June 6, 2026

Title: DO YOU STILL LOVE ME? (Freestyle)

Constructor: Adrian Johnson

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

DO YOU STILL LOVE ME? (Freestyle): There's no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless puzzle. The title is a nod to SPIRITUAL CRISIS (10D: Soul-searching phase, perhaps).

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• LUM (38A: "Before the Fire" author Wing Tek ___) Wing Tek LUM is a poet and businessman from Honolulu, Hawaii. His poem, "Before the Fire," describes the 1899 bubonic plague outbreak in Honolulu's Chinatown. The poem was featured in the 2022 PBS short film, My Chinatown, with Aloha. 
• RYAN (27D: "Sinners" director Coogler) Sinners is a 2025 horror movie written and directed by RYAN Coogler. Michael B. Jordan has two roles in the film; he plays identical twin brothers, Elijah and Elias Moore, whose nicknames are "Smoke" and "Stack." In 1932, the brothers return to their Mississippi hometown after years working in Chicago for the Mob. They open a juke joint, and things don't go smoothly (or there wouldn't be a movie).
• POETS (40D: Mahmoud Darwish and Mohammed el-Kurd, for two) Mahmoud Darwish and Mohammed el-Kurd are Palestinian POETS. Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which formally established the state of Palestine on November 15, 1988. Mohammed el-Kurd has used his writings to describe the lives of Palestinians under occupation in the West Bank.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ALF (4A: Alien in a 1980s sitcom) ALF is  a TV sitcom that ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1990. The title character ALF was an "alien life form" from the planet Melmac.
• MARSHA (7A: Transgender rights movement activist ___ P. Johnson) I have previously written about MARSHA P. Johnson (1945-1992). The "P" in MARSHA P. Johnson stood for "Pay It No Mind," which was MARSHA's response when people would ask questions about her gender.
• EPIPEN (15A: Anaphylaxis treatment device) EPIPEN is the trademark name for a brand of epinephrine autoinjector, a medical device used to inject a measured dose of epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis (a life-threatening type of allergic reaction).
• GULP (19A: "That's not good" sound) I had "gasp" here at first, but crossing answers soon made it clear that GULP was the four-letter "That's not good" sound being asked for.
• ONO (21A: "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" star Jiro) Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a 2011 documentary. The movie follows Jiro ONO, the chef/owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a sushi restaurant in Japan. Jiro ONO is considered one of the greatest sushi craftsmen.
• OHIO (22A: "___, The Heart of It All" (Midwestern state slogan)) I'm taking this mention of the Midwestern state of OHIO as an opportunity to plug the Midwest Crossword Tournament. The third annual Midwest Crossword Tournament will be held Saturday, October 3, 2026 in Chicago and online. More information is available on the tournament website, and registration is now open.
• MR. T (25A: "I pity the fool!" speaker) I will always think of MR. T as B. A. Baracus on the '80s TV series, The A-Team. However, it was in his role as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 movie Rocky III, that MR. T first said the line that eventually became his catchphrase, "I pity the fool!"
• MEAN (37A: Ten, for the data set [4, 8, 9, 12, 17]) Who put math in our word puzzle?! The MEAN, or average, of a set of numbers is the sum of those numbers divided by the number of items in the set. In this case, 4 + 8 + 9 + 12 + 17 = 50, and 50 divided by five is ten.
• RADIAN (47A: Angle measurement equal to about 57 degrees) More math! I had to dig a little deeper for this one, because it's been a minute or two since I studied trigonometry. Like degrees, RADIANs are a unit of measurement for angles. As the clue informs us, a RADIAN is equal to approximately 57 degrees. If you'd like to refresh your memory about RADIANs (or learn about them for the first time), I recommend the Better Explained article, "Intuitive Guide to Angles, Degrees and RADIANs."
• PANIC AT THE DISCO (50A: "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" band) "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is a 2006 song by PANIC! AT THE DISCO. It's on their debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. We saw PANIC! AT THE DISCO as a theme answer just a little over a week ago.
• STAN (1D: Name found in "ghost ant") Where's STAN? Oh, no! He's been swallowed by a ghost ant. 
• HE'S A TEN BUT (11D: Phrase before a "red flag" reveal) I fully own that this is my leaning in to my Gen X-ness, but really, if one feels the need to say, "HE'S A TEN, BUT" ... he's not a ten. Still, it's a fun answer to see in the puzzle.
• ROSE PARADE (24D: Floral New Year's Day procession in Pasadena) Pasadena, California's ROSE PARADE was first held on January 1, 1890. It is held on New Year's Day except when January 1 falls on a Sunday; those years the parade is held on January 2. The ROSE PARADE originally featured horse carriages decorated with flowers. Over time the carriages were replaced by floats, some of which take nearly a year to construct. According to ROSE PARADE rules, all surfaces of a float's framework must be covered in natural materials. No artificial flowers are allowed.
• EAT (35D: Observe suhoor or iftar) During the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar), Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset. That means they only EAT before sunrise and after sunset. Suhoor is the early morning meal prior to the fast, and iftar is the meal eaten to break the fast at the end of the day.
• A few other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• SEAS (29A: They might float your boat)
• LAB (5D: Room with Bunsen burners)
• ACRE (48D: One of over 100 in Vatican City)

This freestyle grid features six grid-spanning answers:

• MARINE BIOLOGIST (16A: Scientist who studies sea life)
• I SLEPT LIKE A BABY (32A: "That was an uninterrupted night of rest for me")
• PANIC AT THE DISCO (50A: "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" band)
• PERSONAL TRAINER (2D: Fitness expert)
• FLIGHT SIMULATOR (6D: Program for achieving lofty goals?)
• SPIRITUAL CRISIS (10D: Soul-searching phase, perhaps)

I enjoyed all of these grid spanners. There's definitely something satisfying about typing in an answer that reaches all the way across the grid. Thank you, Adrian, for this fun puzzle.

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