diff --git a/src/fenigma/grid_widget.py b/src/fenigma/grid_widget.py
index 3ae1774..9b664ae 100644
--- a/src/fenigma/grid_widget.py
+++ b/src/fenigma/grid_widget.py
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ SCOUT_FLIGHT = (0.70, 0.45, 0.92)
 
 BG = (0.13, 0.12, 0.10)
 GRID_LINE = (1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.20)
+SUBGRID_LINE = (0.72, 0.70, 0.65, 0.35)  # a shade between BG and GRID_LINE's white, not a hue change
+HOVER_LEGEND = (0.45, 0.65, 0.95)  # blue, not yellow, for the highlighted X/Y legend label
 LABEL = (0.88, 0.86, 0.80)
 COORD_LABEL = (0.60, 0.58, 0.54)
 YELLOW = (0.95, 0.85, 0.20)
@@ -541,17 +543,40 @@ class GridCanvas(Gtk.DrawingArea):
         # Column/row labels: one per whole large-cell that's at least
         # partly visible (its own span overlaps the viewport), not
         # pegged to the gridline boundaries above, a partially-visible
-        # edge cell still gets its letter/number shown.
-        cr.set_source_rgb(*LABEL)
+        # edge cell still gets its letter/number shown. Whichever
+        # column/row the cursor is actually over gets called out
+        # (accent color + underline), an easy way to read the current
+        # cell off the legend at a glance instead of counting gridlines.
+        hover_col, hover_row = self._hover_cell if self._hover_cell is not None else (None, None)
         cr.set_font_size(11)
         for i in range(max(math.floor(view.ox), 0), min(math.ceil(view.ox + view.vis_cols), COLS)):
             x, _ = self._km_to_px(view, (i + 0.5, 0))
-            cr.move_to(x - 4, MARGIN_TOP + view.pad_y - 10)
+            label_x, label_y = x - 4, MARGIN_TOP + view.pad_y - 10
+            is_hover = i == hover_col
+            cr.set_source_rgb(*(HOVER_LEGEND if is_hover else LABEL))
+            cr.move_to(label_x, label_y)
             cr.show_text(LARGE_X[i])
+            if is_hover:
+                text_w = cr.text_extents(LARGE_X[i]).width
+                cr.new_path()
+                cr.set_line_width(1.5)
+                cr.move_to(label_x, label_y + 3)
+                cr.line_to(label_x + max(text_w, 6), label_y + 3)
+                cr.stroke()
         for r in range(max(math.floor(view.oy), 0), min(math.ceil(view.oy + view.vis_rows), ROWS)):
             _, y = self._km_to_px(view, (0, r + 0.5))
-            cr.move_to(4, y + 4)
+            label_x, label_y = 4, y + 4
+            is_hover = r == hover_row
+            cr.set_source_rgb(*(HOVER_LEGEND if is_hover else LABEL))
+            cr.move_to(label_x, label_y)
             cr.show_text(str(r + 1))
+            if is_hover:
+                text_w = cr.text_extents(str(r + 1)).width
+                cr.new_path()
+                cr.set_line_width(1.5)
+                cr.move_to(label_x, label_y + 3)
+                cr.line_to(label_x + max(text_w, 6), label_y + 3)
+                cr.stroke()
 
         # Everything below projects a km position to a pixel one with no
         # inherent bound, an entity that's genuinely elsewhere on the
@@ -624,8 +649,7 @@ class GridCanvas(Gtk.DrawingArea):
         if self._hover_cell is None:
             return
         cell_col, cell_row = self._hover_cell
-        r, g, b, a = GRID_LINE
-        cr.set_source_rgba(r, g, b, a * 0.6)  # fainter than the plain grid lines, not louder
+        cr.set_source_rgba(*SUBGRID_LINE)
         cr.set_line_width(1)
         x0, y0 = self._km_to_px(view, (cell_col, cell_row))
         x1, y1 = self._km_to_px(view, (cell_col + 1, cell_row + 1))