BRITISH NOVELS' FIRST LINES |
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AFTER I LOST THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION |
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A Christie mystery: "It was 5:00 on a winter's morning in Syria. Alongside the platform at Aleppo stood the train..." |
Murder on the Orient Express
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"It's The End Of The World As We Know It", this band sang in 1987 (& they felt fine) |
R.E.M.
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Large percussive disk |
a gong
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In addition to black lung, these workers were regularly afflicted by stink damp & silicosis |
coal miners
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I helped form the Alliance for Climate Protection & appeared as myself on "Futurama" |
Al Gore
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1813: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a... fortune, must be in want of a wife" |
Pride and Prejudice
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In a 1989 hit, Don Henley lamented "The End Of" this--sounds like a song of experience |
"The Innocence"
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It's the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac |
a dragon
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Canine madness have you foaming? Then you've come down with this unfortunate sickness |
rabies
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I practiced law in Los Angeles, then lost a run for statewide office; I wasn't done with politics, though |
Richard Nixon
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E.M. Forster: "Except for the Marabar Caves... the city of Chandrapore presents nothing extraordinary" |
(Brock: What's A Room with a View?)
A Passage to India
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This calendar was introduced in the 1790s |
(Carlos: What is a Gregorian?) [The end-of-round signal sounds.]
the French Revolutionary calendar
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This coach on "The Voice" won a 2010 Grammy for "Forget You", which has a colorful alternate title |
CeeLo Green
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Crazy a la Hunter S. Thompson |
gonzo
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Illuminating gas poisoning had nothing to do with that second helping of pudding, but rather this gas, CO |
carbon monoxide
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I stayed on as gov. of N.Y. & turned down an offer to be Chief Justice of the U.S.; I also learned not to believe newspapers |
(Thomas) Dewey
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1962: "'What's it going to be then, eh?' There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs" |
A Clockwork Orange
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The Celtic word Samhain can refer to this month or to a festival on the first day of it |
November
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In 1992 Boyz II Men reached the "End Of" this, & it took them to No. 1 |
"The Road"
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Ancient supercontinent |
Gondwana (or Gondwanaland)
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"Hardening of the liver" is what we now call this of the liver |
(Alex: Yes, with less than a minute to go.)
cirrhosis
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Having lost control of my newspaper as well as the vote, I died Nov. 29, 1872, before the electors even met |
Horace Greeley
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Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The often parodied "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents" |
Paul Clifford
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John Wilkes Booth saw himself as a dictator-slayer, so his original target date was April 13, which is this on the Roman calendar |
(Carlos: What is the Ides of March?) (Alex: No. Sorry. "What is [*]?") (Carlos: Oh, duh!) (Alex: You added too much information. "Duh." Yes. Sorry about that.)
the Ides of April
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In a Bob Dylan song title, this 4-word declaration of finality precedes "Baby Blue" |
"It's All Over Now"
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A line in the Song of Solomon requests, "stay me with" these drinking vessels |
a flagon
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"The horrors" was a term for the hallucinations experienced during this "shaking" state of alcohol withdrawal |
the DTs
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I helped my wife run for president & later, successfully, for the Senate |
(Alex: You don't look happy. You look as if you're under pressure.) (Brock: A little bit, Alex. Thank you very much for bringing that up.) [Laughter]
(Robert) Dole
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