Daily puzzle

Put The Open Boat back in order

Seven beats from our edition of The Open Boat by Stephen Crane, shuffled. Drag them, or use the arrows, until the story runs straight. No account, no streak to lose.

  1. Adrift in the Dinghy Four men, captain, cook, oiler, and correspondent, survive their ship's sinking and find themselves in a tiny boat on a mountainous sea.
  2. Sighting the Lighthouse They spot the Mosquito Inlet light and grow hopeful, taking turns rowing toward the promise of rescue.
  3. The Beach and No Rescue People on shore wave but no help comes, and the men's hope sours into bitter anger at an uncaring fate.
  4. Indifference of Nature Through the long cold night the correspondent confronts the truth that nature is not hostile but utterly indifferent to them.
  5. Running the Surf At dawn, out of strength and options, they drive the boat into the breakers and the surf swamps it, throwing them into the sea.
  6. The Swim The men struggle through the icy water toward shore, the correspondent caught in a current until a wave frees him.
  7. The Oiler's Death Three reach land alive, but Billie the oiler, the strongest of them, drowns, and the survivors feel they can interpret the sea at last.