It always amazes me how many fellas around here got a good sense of humor...thanks for the chuckle...
my question was in the context of trading restrictions....the terminology comes from the Standard VI (B). These terms are used under the subsection "Establish blackout/restricted periods" under section "Recommended Procedures for Compliance" (Page 133 of Volume 1 of Level III 2011 Curriculum).
It's just a period where one cannot trade in certain securities. An example would be your firm is going to announce earnings so employees are not allowed to trade N days prior to the announcement for fear of appearance of trading on insider info.
between blackout and restricted? Not sure there really is one, depending on context. I suppose a total blackout would mean no trading at all and restricted would mean there is a list of securities that some are restricted from trading - as opposed to a complete blackout on all securities. If there is a strict distinction between the two though I don't recall what it is, but my guess is it is hair splitting and not something you'll have to distinguish on exam day.
Not sure about restricted period but it is usual to establish a restricted list in combination of black out period where the firm defines who are restricted to trade in this blackout period. Normally, those are the firm's officers and those who have access to earnings data.
Another restricted list is for the IB firm to define list of stocks financial advisors are forbidden to recommend to clients or analysts cannot cover them (for a certain period) since the firm has some kind of conflict of interest/inside info (doing IB,...)