The cause of the blackout?

The massive blackout that affected most of Ontario and the Northeastern United States recently was a crippling blow to avid Government of Canada solitaire players, both amateur and professional. Several thousand solitaire games, representing millions of dollars in lost productivity, may have been lost.

Government spokesperson Lynne Yvette confirmed that the blackout that hit at approximately 4:10 PM Eastern on Thursday, August 14, was "devastating" to those public servants still at work playing computer solitaire at government work stations.

"We understand that there were upwards of tens of thousands of solitaire games affected by the sudden power outage," said Yvette, who added that both essential and non-essential government information technology workers have been called in to work around the clock to rectify the solitaire problem and salvage whatever games possible.

I knew I shouldn't have been working so late.

-Blackout solitaire victim Sharlene Ersten.

Sharlene Ersten, a flipper-entry clerk at the federal Department of Trout, was one of those civil servants afflicted by the blackout. "I was playing solitaire, like I do most afternoons, and, well…mornings, when poof, the screen went black," explained a teary-eyed Ersten, who has been off work on stress leave since the incident. "It really hurts, because I was in the zone. I had a personal best going."

Added the aspiring computer card shark: "This is really going to be a big setback for my training for this year's Public Service solitaire tournament."

However, champion computer solitaire player Wally Whisselt, whose prowess with the computer mouse has earned him the nickname of the 'fastest index finger in Canada,' was better prepared. "Just to be safe, I always back up all of my matches to a map drive immediately after completing every game," said the analyst at the mackerel branch of the Ottawa Headquarters of the Federal Pike Commission.

A look at solitaire champion Wally 'Superclick' Whisselt's computer demonstrates his foolproof system to save each of his games.

Whisselt, who devotes his weekends to competing in high stakes computer solitaire tournaments around North America, has all of his games saved, but injury may keep him from defending his national title this year.

"I'm much more concerned about my strained clicking finger-my doctor thinks I might need surgery…and right when the solitaire season's about to begin," grumbled the champion athlete.

Grief councilors have been brought in to deal with those afflicted.