Line 1
“The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex.”
Opening Lines #53 · Tuesday, 22 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 2
“Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, from Puget Sound to San Diego.”
Line 3
“On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.”
Line 4
“When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.”
Line 5
“It was seven o’clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day’s rest,”
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.