Science & Nature
EasyOcean Life Crossword
Category: Science & NatureDifficulty: Medium14 × 15
Saturday, September 5
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Enter one letter per square. Answers run Across or Down. Omit spaces and accents; any special spelling convention is stated in the clue. This is a freeform themed grid, so some letters are not crossed.
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About This Theme
Some ocean animals spend their lives attached to a surface. Others travel enormous distances or drift wherever the water carries them. This crossword brings those different ways of living into one grid. Think about the defining feature in each clue rather than assuming that everything in the sea is a fish. You will meet a few familiar animals and some broader biological terms. Longer answers become less intimidating once a recognizable creature gives you the first crossing letters.
Clues
Across
- 3Organisms that drift with water currents (8)
- 5Fish whose male carries developing young in a pouch (8)
- 10Tentacled sea animal that shares a name with a flower (7)
- 11Reef-building animal often mistaken for a plant (5)
- 12Flattened limbs a seal uses for swimming (8)
Down
- 1Large brown alga that forms underwater forests (4)
- 2Crustacean often found attached to rocks or ship hulls (8)
- 4Coastal area where river water mixes with seawater (7)
- 6Cephalopod with eight arms (7)
- 7Organs that let most fish extract oxygen from water (5)
- 8Underwater ridge that may be built by corals (4)
- 9Marine mammal known for echolocation and a streamlined body (7)
Answers and Explanations
After Your Solve
CORAL is the answer most likely to challenge an everyday assumption: the living organism is an animal. KELP, by contrast, is a large brown alga. PLANKTON is a category based on drifting rather than a single species, so it belongs at a different level of description from OCTOPUS or SEAHORSE. These contrasts are the point of the theme. If you solved by visual memory, go back and consider which clues described body parts, which described behavior, and which named a broader group.
- 3 acrossPLANKTON
Plankton includes diverse organisms, not one species.
- 5 acrossSEAHORSE
Male seahorses brood the developing young.
- 10 acrossANEMONE
A sea anemone is an animal despite its flowerlike shape.
- 11 acrossCORAL
Coral animals can build the structures that form reefs.
- 12 acrossFLIPPERS
Flippers are adapted for movement through water.
- 1 downKELP
Kelp is seaweed rather than a flowering plant.
- 2 downBARNACLE
Adult barnacles commonly live attached to a surface.
- 4 downESTUARY
An estuary links freshwater and marine environments.
- 6 downOCTOPUS
An octopus has arms rather than a fish's fins.
- 7 downGILLS
Gills exchange gases with the surrounding water.
- 8 downREEF
A reef is a structure, not a single organism.
- 9 downDOLPHIN
Dolphins breathe air and belong to the mammals.
Further Reading
- Theme referencenoaa.gov
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