WORDPLAY
INTELLIGENT EXERCISE
by CARLA K. JOHNSON for THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOOK REVIEW
NOTEWORTHY
‘THE DARK FLOOD RISES’ A CAR RACES ALONG a British motorway. The driver, Fran Stubbs, is gainfully employed in her 70s — in fact, an expert in her field — on her way to a conference on housing for the elderly. She is speculating on how she will die, having read the obituary of an acquaintance that perished in a fire after smoking in bed. Fran doesn’t think the acquaintance made such a bad exit compared with a friend who died in a hospital corridor in a wheelchair. “At least Stella had nobody to blame but herself,” Fran thinks as she speeds ahead on the M1, “and although the last minutes couldn’t have been pleasant, neither had Birgit’s.” A vein of black humor pulses in Margaret Drabble’s “The Dark Flood Rises,” which, thankfully, makes the novel’s reflections on how we age and die as entertaining as a conversation with a dear friend.
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Topic for Dr. Ruth Reimbursed expense for a commuter, maybe As yet Sound system? Major export of Florida Blue hue Berate some guy for getting too much sun? Like most “Quo Vadis” characters Altar spot “A bit of talcum / Is always walcum” writer Banquet For whom Nancy was first lady Gives an order Remain undecided Fabric from flax Bearded animal Suggestion to a bored short-story writer? Book reviewer?: Abbr. Having less heft Swinging Ernie 35-nation alliance, briefly Drive-____ Fasten Kids’ TV character who refers to himself in the third person Greenhorn on the force Horse for hire Result of a serious wardrobe malfunction at the beach? Hit one out
Fran is one of a cortege of mostly older characters whose thoughts on aging and death often provoke a laugh or at least a smile. There is Josephine Drummond, who conducts research on an obscure genre of 19th-century literature, yet struggles with the workings of her phone and DVD recorder. There is Christopher Stubbs, Fran’s son, who isn’t sure what to make of the fact that his girlfriend has died young and unexpectedly while making a human rights documentary in the Canary Islands. There is Teresa Quinn, who is dying of mesothelioma, yet happy to imagine her priest might enjoy performing her last rites; she wryly takes comfort in the fact that she is too old to die young. Drabble’s characters are literate, even scholarly, so they naturally attend a Samuel Beckett play or page through a heavy art book or ponder D.H.
by LYNN LEMPEL / edited by WILL SHORTZ
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Clean with a pressurized spray First name in daredevilry Turbid Weighty matters? He can be seen at the western end of the National Mall, informally Pens for hens Toast word M, on a form March movement It may deliver a punch Scientist’s dilemma regarding work vs. play? “My only love sprung from my only ____!”: Juliet Entry Wild revelry Archives material Gist Sight at Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park Gist It’s a drain Entry on an I.R.S. form: Abbr. Dismaying announcement about disaster aid? What’s right in front of the tee? Photographer Arbus Old gang weapons Heart of the matter? Bit of cushioning Arrears Glitch “Waterloo” band Corroded Roker’s appeal before gastric
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Tour grp. since 1950 Breakfast chain Disapproving sounds Gather “What’s the ____?” Alito’s Supreme Court predecessor Creature on the movie poster for “The Silence of the Lambs” With 34-Down, longtime public radio host Some space vehicles It must turn over to start Docket With 42-Down, “Frosty the Snowman” singer Super suffix? Pacific island wrap Worry of stratospheric proportions “That villain in comics has sure gotta be sore!”? Desiccated ____ Sea Tear apart Plunger alternative Deputy: Abbr. Dentist’s directive Tip Traffic cone
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Lawrence’s awareness of his declining health. How do humans cope with, understand and distract themselves from the deterioration of sickness and old age? For these characters, even for religious Teresa, it is art that comforts by offering epiphanies that feel both familiar and edifying. The novel’s title comes from “The Ship of Death,” a poem by Lawrence, who died young at 44. The poem’s next line after “the dark flood rises” is this: “We are dying, we are dying, we are all of us dying.” Christopher returns to the Canaries to make sense of his girlfriend’s passing; Fran has a bit of an adventure while driving in a storm. The entangled story lines echo with ideas on the unknowable destination where we are all heading.
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‘The Dark Flood Rises’ Margaret Drabble Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017 439 words, hard cover
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— Last week’s puzzle answers — 74 75 78 80 83 84 86 87 88 89 90 93 96 97
Run out High hairdos Jeer Take some shots Annoys Ad-agency output Devil-may-care “Aha!” Mystical doctrine Talk wildly Gaming trailblazer Sluggish Having no room for more Fuel from a fen
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Building’s rain diverter Sobel who wrote the Pulitzer-nominated “Galileo’s Daughter” Editor’s override One with a lot of tweets Treat for a dog Presently Supplied Parliamentary support Corp. bigwig
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