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 #40 · Wednesday, 9 September 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

“Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.”

Don QuixoteMiguel de CervantesThe Call of the WildJack LondonThe Portrait of a LadyHenry JamesThe AwakeningKate Chopin

Line 2

“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.”

Mrs DallowayVirginia WoolfJane EyreCharlotte BrontëMadame BovaryGustave FlaubertLes MisérablesVictor Hugo

Line 3

“Call me Ishmael.”

The Scarlet LetterNathaniel HawthorneMoby-DickHerman MelvilleBleak HouseCharles DickensWuthering HeightsEmily Brontë

Line 4

“Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place;”

DraculaBram StokerThe Adventures of Tom SawyerMark TwainAnne of Green GablesL. M. MontgomeryThe Jungle BookRudyard Kipling

Line 5

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

The Portrait of a LadyHenry JamesUlyssesJames JoyceAdventures of Huckleberry FinnMark TwainAnne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery

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.