How do you play Opening Lines?

Read the opening sentence and choose the novel it belongs to. Look for the narrator, setting and tone as clues. A remembered first sentence can help, but a line can also be a starting point for finding a new book to read.

When do the daily book games change?

New puzzles arrive at midnight UTC. That may be morning, afternoon or evening in your time zone. The date on the game identifies the puzzle everyone is playing.

Can I play without an account?

You can play the daily games as a guest. Sign in if you want to keep your streaks across devices, and use the archive links when you want an earlier puzzle. Avoid posting an answer where people who have not played will see it.

Secondhand · Well-read · Much loved

Creasy Spines

“Every crease is a story.”

Vol. I · No. 292Monday, 19 October 2026Today’s edition

Opening Lines #1 · Saturday, 1 August 2026

Opening Lines

Five first sentences from public-domain classics. Which book does each one open?

Replaying an archived puzzle. Play today’s

Line 1

“The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest.”

PersuasionJane AustenHeart of DarknessJoseph ConradWuthering HeightsEmily BrontëThe Call of the WildJack London

Line 2

“When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.”

Treasure IslandRobert Louis StevensonThe Secret GardenFrances Hodgson BurnettSense and SensibilityJane AustenThe War of the WorldsH. G. Wells

Line 3

“You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter.”

Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis CarrollThe Secret GardenFrances Hodgson BurnettAdventures of Huckleberry FinnMark TwainUlyssesJames Joyce

Line 4

“Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.”

The Waste LandT. S. EliotThe Jungle BookRudyard KiplingMadame BovaryGustave FlaubertUlyssesJames Joyce

Line 5

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”

The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank BaumTess of the d'UrbervillesThomas HardyEmmaJane AustenThe AwakeningKate Chopin

Archive · Your stats · First lines are from works published before 1930.

A few playing notes

How do you play Opening Lines?: Read the opening sentence and choose the novel it belongs to. Look for the narrator, setting and tone as clues. A remembered first sentence can help, but a line can also be a starting point for finding a new book to read.
When do the daily book games change?: New puzzles arrive at midnight UTC. That may be morning, afternoon or evening in your time zone. The date on the game identifies the puzzle everyone is playing.
Can I play without an account?: You can play the daily games as a guest. Sign in if you want to keep your streaks across devices, and use the archive links when you want an earlier puzzle. Avoid posting an answer where people who have not played will see it.