July 24, 2026

Title: ENDS ON A POSITIVE NOTE 

Constructors: Zhouqin Burnikel & Naomi Zahavi

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• WHAT'S YOUR SIGN (20A: Zodiac-related pickup line)
• FOR YOU NO CHARGE (38A: "This one's on the house")
• OPENING NUMBER (57A: First song in a musical)

ENDS ON A POSITIVE NOTE: The last (END) word of each theme answer can be paired with the word POSITIVE to form a new phrase: POSITIVE SIGN, POSITIVE CHARGE, and POSITIVE NUMBER.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• HUTT (13A: Jabba the ___) In the world of Star Wars, Jabba the HUTT is a sluglike creature who is a crime lord on the planet Tatooine. In the filming of Return of the Jedi (1983), Jabba the HUTT was a one-ton animatronic puppet operated by several puppeteers.
• SATAN (16A: Underworld overlord) I like the under-over wording here.
• IN A (33A: "___ pig's eye!") "IN A pig's eye!" is a phrase used to express emphatic disbelief or denial, or to indicate that something is never going to happen. No one seems to know the origin of this saying. It's possible it's related to the saying "when pigs fly!"
• ABC (54A: "The Bachelorette" network) The Bachelorette premiered on ABC in 2003. Since then there have been 21 seasons. Season 22 of The Bachelorette was canceled days before it was set to premiere, when the news broke that the season's bachelorette was involved in domestic assault allegations. Does ABC not do background checks on its bachelorette picks? (I am not at all invested in this show. I just find it interesting that this only came to light a few days before the show was to air.)
• LIBRAS (64A: Astrological scales) LIBRAS are those people born between September 23 and October 23. The symbol for LIBRA is the scales.
• EARL (66A: Husband of a countess) This clue made me wonder why the husband of a countess is an EARL, rather than a count. It turns out that the title of EARL is specific to Britain, and it is equivalent to the rank of count used in the rest of Europe. Although Britain uses the title of EARL instead of count, no female equivalent to EARL ever developed, which is why countess continues to be used. 
• ETNA (3D: Sicilian volcano) Mount ETNA (also referred to simply as ETNA) is an active volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy. ETNA has a height of just over 11,000 feet; its height varies with eruptions. ETNA is in an almost constant state of activity.
• TACO (5D: Food that might be discounted on Tuesdays) Whoever originally came up with TACO Tuesday was a marketing genius. It looks like TACO Tuesday has been a thing since at least the 1930s.
• RANGE (9D: The Rockies or the Andes) The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are the largest mountain RANGE in North America. They extend from the northernmost part of Western Canada to the U.S. state of New Mexico. The Andes Mountains are the longest continental mountain RANGE in the world, and are found along the western edge of South America.
• ACAPULCO (41D: Resort city known for cliff diving) ACAPULCO is a city in the state of Guerrero in Mexico. ACAPULCO is located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. One of ACAPULCO's attractions is the La Quebrada Cliff Divers, a group of professional cliff divers who perform daily shows for the public. They jump off of cliffs that are 98 to 135 feet high into the sea below.
• MILA (60D: Name hidden backwards in "data limit") Where's MILA? Oh, she's going back to the "data limit."
• Other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• STANDING O (10D: Enthusiastic audience reaction, for short)
• OAK (11D: Grown-up acorn)
• EWE 46D: Animal that sounds like a pronoun)

The hope is that every crossword ENDS ON A POSITIVE NOTE, right? One way to make sure that happens is to use ENDS ON A POSITIVE NOTE as the puzzle's theme. Congratulations to Naomi Zahavi making a USA Today crossword debut. Thank you, Zhouqin and Naomi, for this enjoyable puzzle.

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