Special Sub-Topic: "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" -- Chapter 1 Authored by: ubermom Sub-topic of: Adams, Douglas

Complete the opening line: "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as ..."

an airport.. Since the book opens with an adventure in Heathrow -- arguably the ugliest airport in the world -- it's not surprising that Adams started with this comment.

Feisty American Kate Schecter was thwarted in her attempts to catch a flight to Oslo. Which was NOT one of the impediments she overcame in her ultimately futile effort?

The flat tire on her car.. Kate took a taxi to the airport, and suffered no flats on the way.

At first, Kate tried to help the large, Nordic man get aboard the flight to Oslo. But she learned something that made her give up. What?

He had no passport.. He indeed had no ticket when he approached the counter, but Kate bought one for him. It was only when he was thwarted by the lack of a passport that things got lively.

Why was Kate trying to get to Oslo, anyway?

To meet a man.. She doubted, however, that Jean-Philippe would actually be there.

Fill in the blank: Jean-Philippe was, Kate reflected, "the most continually ____ person she had ever met."

absent. Kate figured that she'd probably not actually encounter Jean-Philippe in Oslo anyway. She figured that she'd just find a note from him saying he wouldn't be able to meet her.

Back to the large, Nordic man at the check-in counter. What did Kate think looked thoroughly out of place around him?

The airport & an airport & airport. This was a clarification of the idea that he looked out-of-place in the airport.

The big Nordic man's eyes were large and blue, and also what?

Arrogant and muddled.. They also "conveyed the impression that they had looked at a lot of glaciers in their time."

What did Kate give the big Nordic man?

Her address.. She'd just used her credit card to pay for his ticket and expected him to write her a check for the amount. It turned out, of course, that he didn't have a checkbook. So Kate gave him her address and told him to send her the money.

How did the large, Nordic man's attempts to board the flight to Oslo end?

The check-in desk exploded.. It was engulfed in an orange fireball, taking out a sizable chunk of Heathrow Terminal Two.

What was Kate relieved to be thinking just as she passed out?

That she hadn't been just imagining that it was a bad day.. She had this thought as she lay beneath a pile of rubble.