February 22, 2026

Title: THAT ONE'S ON ME! (Freestyle)

Constructor: Rafael Musa

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

THAT ONE'S ON ME! (Freestyle): There's no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless, puzzle. The title is a nod to I DROPPED THE BALL (47A: "Sorry, that was my bad").

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• RUPI (15A: "Milk and Honey" poet Kaur) Poet RUPI Kaur has a large social media following, particularly on Instagram, where she has over four million followers. She self-published her first poetry collection, Milk and Honey, which was then re-released by Andrews McMeel Publishing. RUPI Kaur's newest book is called Love Poems, which features poems collected from her other works. The book was released last month.
• JOOLS LEBRON (19A: Influencer who went viral for using the phrase "very demure, very mindful") If you somehow missed the "very demure, very mindful" phase started by TikTok personality JOOLS LEBRON, you might be interested in checking out the article, "Why is everyone on TikTok suddenly obsessed with demure? A very mindful explainer of the trend." Honestly, you just never know what's going to go viral.
• LASIK (24A; Surgery for improving vision) LASIK stands for "laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis" – is it any wonder it's referred to as LASIK? LASIK surgery is performed to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
• PANEER (26A: Palak ___ (dish with spinach and cheese)) Palak PANEER is a vegetarian dish made from spinach and PANEER (a fresh cheese made from cow or buffalo milk).
• BEET (27A: Red veggie in rosolli) Rosolli is a salad in Finnish cuisine. It is made of diced root vegetables, especially BEET, carrot, and potato, and may contain pickled cucumber, onion, and/or apple. The dish is eaten cold and is often served with a dressing made of whipped cream or a type of sour cream.
• SEOUL (36A: Largest city in South Korea) SEOUL is the capital of South Korea.
• FESTIVALS (40A: Coachella, Lollapalooza, etc.) Coachella is an annual music and arts FESTIVAL held in Indio, California. Indio is located in the Colorado Desert, southwest of Joshua Tree National Park. Coachella is held on two consecutive three-day weekends in April. Lollapalooza is an annual music FESTIVAL. When Lollapalooza began in 1991, it was a traveling FESTIVAL. Since 2005, Grant Park in Chicago has been the FESTIVAL'S main home.
• RIO (56A: Host of the 2016 Summer Olympics) RIO de Janeiro, Brazil was the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• CHESS (61A: Game with castling) In CHESS, castling involves the rook and the king. It can only be done if those two pieces haven't moved yet, and if the squares between them are vacant. The king moves two spaces toward the rook, and the rook moves to the space the king passed over. 
• DRY JANUARY (3D: Early-year observance for the sober-curious) Although the observance of DRY JANUARY has become more widespread (or at least more widely talked about), it began in 2014 by Alcohol Change UK, a British charity group focused on reducing the harm caused by alcohol.
• OREOS (9D: Cookies that once had a limited-edition Team USA variety) Here's a fun fact: Team USA OREOS were released in summer 2020 for the Olympics, even though the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The OREOS had layers of red, white, and blue creme.
• BURNING MAN (10D: Annual event in the Nevada desert during which an effigy is lit on fire) BURNING MAN is a week-long event held annually in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. BURNING MAN aims to facilitate a network of people interested in the "pursuit of a more creative and connected existence in the world." The name of the event comes from the BURNING of a large wooden effigy each year on the Saturday evening before Labor Day. 
• TIS (12D: 'Twas today?) 'Twas (a contraction of "it was) is the past tense of 'TIS (a contraction of "it is"). So 'twas in the present (i.e. today) is 'TIS.
• HAMLET (23D: Shakespeare play in which love drives Ophelia mad) William Shakespeare (c. 1564-1616) wrote The Tragedy of HAMLET, Prince of Denmark around 1599 to 1601. Prince HAMLET sets out to seek revenge on his uncle (who has murdered HAMLET's father to seize the throne and marry his mother). Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius (the king's chief counsellor), and one of the play's tragedies is that Ophelia is driven mad after HAMLET murders her father. Sidenote: Some people who did not previously know about Ophelia have learned about her through the Taylor Swift song, "The Fate of Ophelia" (2025).
• KEGELS (25D: Pelvic floor exercises) KEGELS are exercises involving contracting and relaxing the muscles of the pelvic floor. The exercises are named after gynecologist Arnold KEGEL who published a description of the exercises in 1948.
• RIVIERA (37D: French ___ aka Cote d' Azur) The French RIVIERA is the area along the coastline in the southeast corner of France. In French, this area is known as the Côte d'Azur. The French RIVIERA is a popular resort area.

There's a lot of fun fill in this grid in addition to the answers I highlighted above. How fun is the word SNIPPETS (36D: Brief excerpts)? (Very fun!) It's definitely an ASSET (58A: Liability's opposite), as is ALCOVES (39D: Nooks). Thank you, Rafa, for this enjoyable puzzle.