CYNTHIA BARNETT, RAIN: A (NATURAL AND CULTURAL) HISTORY--As air moves away from the equator it cools and sinks, creating... dry bands around the globe at the subtropics... in two belts, one above and one below the equator. I like to think of the subtropics as Mother Earth's bikini.
As air moves away from the equator it cools and sinks, creating two dry bands around the globe at the subtropics. These are home to many of the great deserts, from North Africa's Sahara to America's Mojave. Meteorologists commonly describe the subtropical climates as a belt, not a particularly helpful image because they wrap around the planet in two belts, one above and one below the equator. I like to think of the subtropics as Mother Earth's bikini.
| A. | Warm wind of the Pacific Northwest | CHINOOK |
| B. | Observatory long associated with the University of Chicago | YERKES |
| C. | Item very rarely combined with others on the table? (2 wds.) | NOBLEGAS |
| D. | Mermen of myth | TRITONS |
| E. | Stand up to scrutiny; something sieves can't do (2 wds.) | HOLDWATER |
| F. | Line connecting pressure points | ISOBAR |
| G. | Infrastructural fluid conduit | AQUEDUCT |
| H. | Tributary | BRANCH |
| I. | ____ harp (musical instrument played by the wind) | AEOLIAN |
| J. | The deepest depth (2 wds.) | ROCKBOTTOM |
| K. | Desert home to the Arabian oryx | NEGEV |
| L. | Period of decline (2 wds.) | EBBTIDE |
| M. | Signal to get a drink | THIRST |
| N. | Left on a plane; skipped work (2 wds.) | TOOKOFF |
| O. | Feeder of the North Sea | RHINE |
| P. | Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, e.g., approximately | ANTIPODES |
| Q. | Cartographic detail | INSET |
| R. | Having only one leg? | NONSTOP |
| S. | Overrun, swamped | AWASH |
| T. | Martha & the Vandellas top 10 hit of 1963 (2 wds.) | HEATWAVE |
| U. | Common site for a canal | ISTHMUS |
| V. | Exercise for analytical gardeners (2 wds.) | SOILTEST |
| W. | River through Umbria and Rome | TIBER |
| X. | On a slant; abdominal muscle | OBLIQUE |
| Y. | Device used to track storms | RADAR |
| Z. | Arizona city with the lowest annual precipitation in the contiguous United States | YUMA |