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 #76 · Thursday, 15 October 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 towers of Zenith aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods.”

The Last of the MohicansJames Fenimore CooperMacbethWilliam ShakespeareBabbittSinclair LewisThe Hound of the BaskervillesArthur Conan Doyle

Line 2

“And after all the weather was ideal.”

The ProphetKahlil GibranThe Garden PartyKatherine MansfieldUlyssesJames JoyceThe SeagullAnton Chekhov

Line 3

“As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream.”

CranfordElizabeth GaskellThe Waste LandT. S. EliotThe Pilgrim's ProgressJohn BunyanAnne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery

Line 4

“Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th–17th September—a Thursday.”

IvanhoeWalter ScottSister CarrieTheodore DreiserThe Murder of Roger AckroydAgatha ChristieO Pioneers!Willa Cather

Line 5

“There were four of us—George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency.”

The Magic MountainThomas MannThree Men in a BoatJerome K. JeromeThe OdysseyHomerThe House of the Seven GablesNathaniel Hawthorne

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.