Symbolic hand gesture in Hinduism / FRI 10-28-22 / Ecologist Leopold who advocated thinking like a mountain / Means of making untraceable social media posts / Aristocratic type in British slang / Carl who pioneered modern taxonomy

Constructor: Will Nediger

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: MUDRA (16A: Symbolic hand gesture in Hinduism) —

A mudra [...]; Sanskrit: मुद्रा, IAST: mudrā, "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; Tibetan: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་, THL: chakgya,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers.

As well as being spiritual gestures employed in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions, mudras have meaning in many forms of Indian dance, and yoga. The range of mudras used in each field (and religion) differs, but with some overlap. In addition, many of the Buddhist mudras are used outside South Asia, and have developed different local forms elsewhere. (wikipedia)

Yes, FUN. This was very nearly a textbook Friday, if by "textbook" we mean "my ideal." It's possible that it was a little too easy—the only thing that gave me any real pause was trivia, mainly that ALDO guy. Could've endured (and might've appreciated) a bit more resistance, but I'll just count myself lucky that I got to experience the zoom and the zoom and the cascade of long bright answers and the all-over section-to-section flow that makes Fridays ... well, FUN. And this puzzle started with AT SEA, which is, let's say, not auspicious. "Crosswordese at 1-Across! OH GOD!" But then whoosh went "I CAN'T LOOK" and whoosh went AMATEUR NIGHT and off I went. Actually, if I'm being honest, I didn't nail both those answers at first blush. I had "I CAN'T..." and all I could think of was "... WATCH? I CAN'T WATCH! That's what I'd say! ... what's another word for 'watch?" Sigh. Then I got AMATEUR easy but thought ... the second part would have some more specific meaning, some poetry meaning, like SLAM or something. So maybe the puzzle wasn't *too* easy after all. There was some struggle. Just not much, and certainly not a lot after I got my teeth into that creamy middle. Mmm, CINNAMON TOAST (though, again, I had some ??? about what the second part of the answer would be: ROLLS? BUNS? Gah). BURNER ACCOUNT was the one answer that really did fly across the grid (29A: Means of making untraceable social media posts). Brain wanted BURNER PHONE for a split second, but it wouldn't fit so bam, BURNER ACCOUNT. Best answer of the day, imho, although it might be more accurate to say it was the first half of the best one-two combo: I went BURNER ACCOUNT / DISCO ANTHEMS. Hard not to love. I hate the term LIFE HACKS (the way I hate the term "adulting"), but it's not bad as crossword fill (44A: Using frozen grapes as ice cubes and binder clips as cable organizers, e.g.). So I basically mowed a diagonal through the grid, NW to SE. I then pieced together the SW and, after a small wrestling match with ALDO, put the NE to bed as well. Good times. Fast times, but good times.