Daily puzzle

Put Sweat back in order

Seven beats from our edition of Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston, shuffled. Drag them, or use the arrows, until the story runs straight. No account, no streak to lose.

  1. The Washwoman’s Sunday Delia sorts white folks’ laundry late on a Sunday night, exhausted but diligent, when Sykes frightens her with a whip he knows looks like a snake.
  2. Sykes’s Cruelty Sykes mocks and beats Delia, scorns her work, and flaunts his affair with Bertha around town.
  3. Delia Stands Up Worn past fear, Delia warns Sykes she has reached her limit and no longer cares for him.
  4. The Rattlesnake Sykes brings home a live rattlesnake in a box and keeps it on the porch to terrorize his snake-fearing wife.
  5. The Porch Talk The men at Joe Clarke’s store condemn Sykes for ruining a hardworking, decent woman.
  6. Snake Set Loose Sykes releases the rattlesnake inside the house, intending it to kill Delia in the dark.
  7. The Bite Turns The snake strikes Sykes instead; Delia hears his pleas, stays outside, and lets him die from his own scheme.