SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center:Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, From A to Z

There are SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Centerspoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! From A to Z

Constructor: Jared Cappel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• NOHO (14A: Neighborhood next to Greenwich Village) NOHO is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. NOHO stands for "North of Houston Street," in contrast to the SOHO neighborhood, which is "South of Houston Street." NOHO is a primarily residential neighborhood.
• MULLET (18A: Haircut that's "business in the front, party in the back") Versions of the MULLET hairstyle - short in front and longer in the back - have been around for many years, dating as far back as first century AD. The term "MULLET" to describe the hairstyle, however, is much newer. The term was coined and popularized by the hip-hop group, The Beastie Boys. The group released a 1994 song called "Mullet Head" which contained a description of the haircut.
• APEROL SPRITZ (19A: Sparkly orange cocktail) APEROL SPRITZ is a wine-based cocktail made with the Italian bitter apértif, APEROL (of course!) and the Italian sparkling wine, Prosecco. Shoutout to my daughter and son-in-law, who introduced me to the APEROL SPRITZ after they returned from a vacation in Italy, where the drink is popular.
• ECCO (23A: Danish shoe brand) Karl Toosbuy founded the shoe and leather accessories company ECCO in Denmark in 1963. The shoes are now sold in over 100 countries.
• RPG (24A: Gloomhaven or D&D, e.g.) and ROLE (29A: The "R" of 24-Across) Gloomhaven and Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) are ROLE-playing games.
• SHOP (30A: Browse listings on Wayfair, say) Wayfair is an online store that sells furniture and home goods. If you like to SHOP online, you can do a lot of browsing on the Wayfair site, as they offer over 14 million items from over 11,000 suppliers.
• ANNIE LEIBOVITZ (34A: Celebrated celebrity photographer) ANNIE LEIBOVITZ is known for her portrait photography, which often features subjects in intimate settings. Her photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, taken shortly before Lennon's murder, was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and is considered to be the magazine's most famous cover photo. ANNIE LEIBOVITZ has been designated a living legend by the Library of Congress.
• ALEX RODRIGUEZ (51A: MLB great who hit 696 career home runs) During his 22-year MLB career, ALEX RODRIGUEZ – nicknamed A-Rod – played for the Seattle Mariners (1994-2000), Texas Rangers (2001-2003), and New York Yankees (2004-2013, 2015-2016). ALEX RODRIGUEZ was a 14-time All-Star, and, as the clue informs us, hit 696 home runs during his MLB career. That places him fifth in career home run leaders (behind Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Albert Pujols). Of those 696 home runs, 25 were grand slams, which is the most career grand slams by any MLB player.
• JOAN (56A: Actress Cusack) Comedian JOAN Cusack was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1986. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role of Sheila Jackson on the TV series Shameless.
• SONS (62A: "wishes for ___" (Lucille Clifton poem)) Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) was a poet and educator. She was the Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985. You can read Lucille Clifton's poem "wishes for SONS" on the Poetry Foundation website. I enjoyed this poem, and found it thought-provoking.
• SAHARA (1D: North African desert) The SAHARA Desert, located on the African continent, is the world's largest hot desert. The ten North African countries spanned by the SAHARA are: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia.
• INDONESIA (4D: Java's country) INDONESIA is an island country in Southeast Asia. One of INDONESIA's islands, Java, home to over 148,000 people, is the most populous island in the world.
• CHIS (6D: Greek X's) The letter CHI appears near the end of the Greek alphabet. CHI is the 22nd of the alphabet's 24 letters. It is followed by psi and omega. (This has been your crossword-inspired Greek alphabet review.)
• PLUTO (8D: Dwarf planet beyond Neptune)  I always feel curmudgeonly when PLUTO is mentioned. "In my day PLUTO was a planet..." I'm joking, of course. The scientist in me accepts that our knowledge expands and designations change as new discoveries are made. Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) passed a resolution that year defining a planet. According to the IAU definition, there are three criteria a planet must meet. Pluto only meets two of the criteria. 
• ATL (10D: GA's capital) Atlanta (ATL) is the capital of Georgia (GA). Each year over Labor Day weekend, Atlanta hosts Dragon Con, a multi-genre convention offering programming for fans of sci-fi, fantasy, comic books, and more.
• CUE (11D: Stick for snooker) Snooker is a variation of billiards played with 22 balls: 15 red balls, six balls collectively called the colors (one each of yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black), and a white CUE ball. A CUE stick is used to strike the CUE ball, with the aim of knocking the other balls into the table's pockets in a particular sequence according to the rules of the game.
• GEN Z (26D: Millennials' successors) Just a few days ago we saw BOOMERS clued as [Xers' predecessors]. Today we're continuing our generational review. Millennials are those who were born between 1981 to 1996. Millenials are also known as GEN Y, since they follow GEN X, and precede GEN Z. Speaking of GEN Z, the successors of Millennials are those born between 1997 to 2012. The successors of GEN Z – those born after 2012 – are referred to as Generation Alpha.
• HE'S (31D: "___ So Fine" (Chiffons hit)) "HE'S So Fine" is a song by The Chiffons that spent four weeks at the top of the charts in 1963. In 2017, Billboard compiled a list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time." "HE'S So Fine" was number 73. This song's other claim to fame is that it was the plaintiff song in a plagiarism case against George Harrison's song, "My Sweet Lord." The case was heard in the U.S. district court in 1976, and presiding judge Richard Owen (who was a classical musician and composer of operas in his spare time), ruled that while he did not believe George Harrison deliberately copied "HE'S So Fine," it was clear "that 'My Sweet Lord' is the same song as 'HE'S So Fine' with different words."
• NOSE RINGS (33D: Pieces of jewelry traditionally worn by Hindu brides) Traditionally, NOSE RINGS have been worn by Hindu brides as a way of honoring Pavarti, the Hindu goddess of harmony, love, beauty, and devotion. For weddings, a hoop NOSE RING is often connected to other bridal jewelry.
• QED (38D: Proof-ending letters) QED is an initialism for the Latin phrase "quod erat demonstratum," that means "what was to be shown." QED is placed at the end of mathematical proofs to show completion.
• DODO (53D: Extinct flightless bird) I have previously written about the DODO. We have also seen DODO as a puzzle theme recently, on May 5, 2024.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• APEROL SPRITZ (19A: Sparkly orange cocktail)
• ANNIE LEIBOVITZ (34A: Celebrated celebrity photographer)
• ALEX RODRIGUEZ (51A: MLB great who hit 696 career home runs)

Each theme answer begins with the letter A, and ends with the letter Z: APEROL SPRITZ, ANNIE LEIBOVITZ, and ALEX RODRIGUEZ.

Today's title allowed me to guess that the theme answers would literally progress from A TO Z. It was fun to have that guess confirmed, and to uncover this excellent set of A TO Z answers. I appreciate that none of the theme answers contain any other instances of the letters A and Z, other than at the beginning and end of the answer, respectively. That's a particularly nice touch. Thank you, Jared, for this superb puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles
• Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers