As a child, Janice Luttrell developed a love of words and a love for crossword puzzles by watching her father solve each week's Sunday Chicago Tribune crossword. Her own puzzles have been appearing in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times since 2009. Today's includes these theme answers:
Oil metaphor: BLACKGOLD
Peanuts outburst: GOODGRIEF
Distress call at sea: MANOVERBOARD
Off-the-cuff comment: CASUALREMARK
"Pre-weekend shout" is TGIF -- "Thank God [or Goodness] It's Friday" -- and the first word of each theme answer can precede "Friday."
In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November. The following day is considered to be the start of the Christmas shopping season. Since the early 1960s, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as "Black Friday" because department stores and discount stores make a lot of money, enough to put them "in the black," i.e., reaping a considerable profit. Many stores started opening at 6 AM on Black Friday and then a few stores began opening at 5 AM or 4 AM or even earlier. A few stores now open at 7 or 8 PM on Thanksgiving Day and remain open during the overnight hours. "'Tis the season to be greedy."
People might question why the Christian holiday which commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ is called "Good Friday." In the 8th century, one of the meanings of "good" was "holy."
Casual Fridays are observed by many businesses. On that one day each week, employees can wear casual clothes instead of suits and ties.
The title character of Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe spends 28 years marooned on an island. One day -- a Friday -- he rescues a native who is about to be eaten by cannibals. The grateful native willingly becomes Crusoe's servant and Crusoe names him Friday. Thus, a loyal competent aide or employee is now called a "Man Friday" or "Girl Friday."
"Those girls, in Spain" is ELLAS, which is not used in English. "Land surrounded by agua" is ISLA, which is not used in English. "Slope overlooking a loch" is BRAE, which is not used in English.
"Chicago fire Mrs." is OLEARY. The fire of October 8, 1971, killed 250 people and destroyed 17,000 homes and buildings. It is popularly -- but erroneously -- thought to have started when Mrs. O'Leary was milking a cow in the barn and the cow kicked over a lantern. In truth, the fire started in the middle of the night when the O'Learys and their five children were asleep in bed. The fire did start behind the O'Learys' house but the Chicago Fire Department was never able to determine the cause. Chicago Republican reporter Michael Ahern, who had written about the cow kicking the lantern, admitted shortly before his death 40 years later that he and two cronies had made up the story to make his article more interesting. Yes, it was indeed interesting -- but false. By the way, the fire did no damage to the O'Learys' home. Go figure!
