Wed., 11/19 C.C. Burnikel

[magus]

THEME:   first word of phrase defines CLOUD
   
GOOD ONES:     
Virtual storage area {& theme}   THE CLOUD [BTW, when my modem died, so did my access to the cloud]   
Jalapen[~]o topper   TILDE    
Book keeper?   DUST JACKET [note two words of clue]   
   
BTW:   
"Coop groups" and "Lode loads" are, because of the -s, near rhymes.   
   
"Are we ___ not?": "Is it a date?"   ON OR [kind of a clumsy clue when "___about" would have done fine.]   
   
Go off on   RANT AT [possible, AT is not generally used with RANT: "go off on" might mean "hollar at"]   
   
Beyond belief   UNREAL [yes, in slang]   
   
A NUDIE may have a minimal costume budget but the make-up (& silicon) budget must be steep.     
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

I'm going to do some nitpicking. I'll leave a few nits on the tree in case anybody else wants to pick some. Today's crossword had 40 black squares---too many for my taste. There were four foreign words (EINS, IBN, ROI, STE) and five brand names (ADIDAS, COSTCO, IBM, KOHLS and OSH, short for OshKosh B'Gosh). The word KNAVE dates from the 11th century. It appears in this puzzle. This is the first time I've seen or heard the archaic word in the 21st century. And SAYSOS was clued with "Ultimate authorities." A "say-so" is defined by Random House as an unsupported assertion, an authoritative pronouncement or the right of final decision. Say-sos are not "authorities." The people who make the say-sos are the authorities. Burnikel should have used a different clue.

Among the answers in the puzzle in today's Daily News are the literary character HUCKLEFINN, the hair color STRAWBLONDE and the Prince song RASPBERET. Another answer is singer CHUCKBERRY. Get it? The solver has to chuck the word "berry" to get the theme answers. Very clever!

[magus]

Rewind---

You're spot-on about SAYSOS; they are not the authorities themselves but their powers.  However, nits are not picked from trees --- more likely in hair.  As for KNAVE, Dickens used it when Pip was being ridiculed by Estella: "He calls the knaves jacks!"  We don't refer to 19th Century novelists as archaic.

[Thomps2525]

My comment about leaving some unpicked nits on the tree was a joke, son---a joke.

Authors and playwrights use contemporary language. I would never refer to an author as archaic but in the year 2014 a lot of the words found in great literature are now archaic. I don't want to see archaic words in puzzles. You know I even consider "afro" to be archaic! Anyone who is interested in words---which is probably everybody who comes to this site---will enjoy this huge list of now-archaic words that appear in Shakespeare's writings. Definitions are included:

http://www.shakespearestudyguide.com/Archaisms.html

[magus]

Rewind---

To refer to me as son is less than polite, certainly not gentlemanly, and tone-deaf coming from one not old enough to be my father.  But I forgive you.

I went to the site you provided and noted that KNAVE was not listed as anachronistic or "old" or "unfamiliar."  Odd that you would provide a link proving your objection to the term is unfounded --- and not mention it.  But I forgive you.

As for referring to AFRO as obsolete, what can I say.  You seem to reject the general consensus of academics, linguists, and worst of all me!  For that I cannot forgive you. 

[Thomps2525]

Mister magus, I don't like to discuss anyone's age, including my own. I may be old enough to be your father---and maybe not. But the "son" reference comes from Senator Beauregard Claghorn, a pompous southern politician played by Kenny Delmar on Fred Allen's 1940s radio program Allen's Alley. One of his familiar phrases was "That's a joke, son---ah say, that's a joke." Claghorn was the inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn, the pompous rooster character created by Warner Brothers animator/director Robert McKimson.

And I never said that "knave" was among the now-archaic words used by Shakespeare. I said that I haven't heard anyone use the word in the 20th or 21st centuries. I posted the link to a site which I thought crossword enthusiasts would enjoy seeing. Maybe we can all start using those archaic words in our everyday speech. We can confuse our friends...or make the words popular again...or both!