Daily puzzle

Put Gooseberries back in order

Seven beats from our edition of Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov, shuffled. Drag them, or use the arrows, until the story runs straight. No account, no streak to lose.

  1. Caught in the rain Ivan Ivanovich and Burkin take shelter from a downpour at the estate of their friend Alyohin, who welcomes them in to wash and rest.
  2. The brother's dream Ivan begins his story: his brother Nikolay longed all his life for a country estate with gooseberry bushes.
  3. Years of self-denial Nikolay starves and saves, marries a widow for money, and neglects her so badly that she dies.
  4. The estate at last Nikolay buys a run-down property and settles into the role of a complacent landed gentleman.
  5. The sour gooseberries Ivan visits and watches his brother eat his first homegrown gooseberries with delight, though they are hard and sour.
  6. Ivan's reckoning Sickened by his brother's smug contentment, Ivan delivers a passionate plea against the illusion of private happiness.
  7. Unmoved listeners Alyohin and Burkin, drowsy and comfortable, half-listen, and the company goes to bed as the rain beats outside.