Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

Rich Katz, of Park City, Utah, does freelance work in corporate restructuring.

This is his second crossword for The Times, following The Final Frontier in January. That puzzle had answers like DEATH EATER reinterpreted as D.E.A. THEATER ("Staging of a narc sting?") and PARK AVENUE as PARKA VENUE ("Iditarod, for one?"). For both puzzles, Rich's computer-savvy son searched databases for phrases that Rich could use as examples of his themes' wordplay.

This theme took shape when I was creating a different grid that included the entry ENMESH, and I idly noted that the word might be punnily repurposed to clue something like NETTING. I came up with a few other things like that, such as [Jaywalk?] cluing JAUNT, [Embalm?] cluing MOISTURIZER, and [Eye level?] cluing INTERMEDIATE. I sent the bunch of them to XWord Info's Jeff Chen to ask if he had ever seen a puzzle with a set like that before. He reminded me that one-word theme entries weren't optimal, so I asked my coding-rockstar son Teddy to help me filter my word list for things like what you see here.

Fun entries that didn't make the final cut included [Beekeeper?] = BLOOD BANK, [Empress?] = MAD MAGAZINE, [Describe?] = DANIEL DEFOE, [Teabag?] = TRAVEL TOTE, [Eye exam?] = INTERNAL INVESTIGATION, [Detest?] = DOCTORAL DISSERTATION, [Jaybird?] = JUMBO JET, and [Behead?] = BRONZE BUST.

Special thanks to Teddy, who helps me this way in many of my grids. I hope you'll all keep a lookout for a Thursday puzzle he and I coauthored, soon to be appearing in the New York Times.

Our final contestant in this week's Next Level Constructor is an up-and-comer who I've had the pleasure to work with. Rich is always digging for new ideas, and what I most admire is that for him, good enough is simply not. That applies to both ideas as well as craftsmanship, never willing to let something pass to the next level unless it approaches extraordinary.

Extraordinary is a nearly impossible ask from the done-to-death "initialisms" category, though. Occasionally one rises out of the mire, but a great majority of the time it's an SOS. Home cooks have relied upon varieties of gruel throughout the centuries, and although that has put food into bellies, it too often leaves you wanting more.

There are many ways to elevate gruel from a caloric necessity to a flavor sensation: toppings like dried cuttlefish, a delicate chili oil, a saucy preparation. I enjoyed Rich's plating, hiding the initialisms theme until after my first few bites, making for an unexpected and tasty treat. Riffing on "depose" as a "D pose" = DOWNWARD DOG is dynamite. I wouldn't have guessed that there could be so much variety in an alphabet soup, ending with my favorite, "embosses" cleverly hinting at MIDDLE MANAGEMENT.

Just as any cook beginning with gruel must work miracles with it, someone starting with initialisms must achieve nouvelle construction. This was enough to make me dip in for seconds, and the effort (are there any F forts?) was much appreciated.

And now for the moment we've all been waiting for. Congratulations to every contestant — so many worthy entries, elevating tired themes into modern offerings. But there can only be one victor. The winner of Next Level Constructor is …

Adrian Johnson!