Life's a Beach

Happy Monday! It's June 4th but if feels more like October 4th. It's definitely not a day to be "On the Beach", which is today's puzzle by Gail Grabowski. Here are the theme answers.

20A: Roofed area between a house and a garage (BREEZEWAY). This is what a breezeway looks like (see below). My friend converted hers into a loft.  Her ex-husband lived there before he moved out for good.

 

58A: Abrasive wood smoother (SANDPAPER). Sandpaper is a DIYer's best friend. It can be just as sharp as a saw and in fact works like a saw, except it can't be sharpened. There are many categories of sandpaper from superfine to coarse. There are two different grades of sandpaper, commercial (which is sold at hardware stores) and industrial (only available at industrial supply stores). Looking for sandpaper doesn't excite me as much as looking for shoes.

10D: Big name in Irish crystal (WATERFORD). I think I must have something Waterford in my apartment from our engagement party. Lots of wedding registry gifts from which to choose. Some of it is nice, most is downright tacky.

35D: Tall yellow-petaled plant (SUNFLOWER). The sunflower is not only beautiful and vibrant, but it's an excellent source of food. Sunflower oil is a healthy fat and sunflower seeds proved an excellent and tasty snack. My brother Brian eats them by the pound. However, I will always think of the Sunflower Girls, the organization (similar to the Girl Scouts) that Marcia Brady makes her brother Peter join in order to prove a point about equal rights.

Notes on Mad Men: Last night's episode of "Mad Men" was one of the saddest in the show's history. RIP, Lane Pryce we will miss you. Lane Price was a tragic character, but we can sympathize him thanks to Jared Harris's acting. Lane was in a lot of trouble financially and he sexually harassed Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks). If Lane was in that much trouble, he should have come to Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and company for help instead of embezzling money. It's ironic that he came to Sterling Cooper to trim its budget and he committed fraud. His crime came back to haunt him. Permanently. Click on this link for recaps. In the second main plot, Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka) went to the museum with creepy Glenn Bishop and she also became a woman. There was a rare tender moment between her and Betty (January Jones), the ice princess. BTW, Marten Weiner (who plays Glenn) can't act to save his life. He got the part only because Daddy created the show.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick