Forgery (novlr)

About Forgery (novlr)

Forgery is one of the daily fiction games on novlr, a small site made by Nathan Haslewood. Its question each day is simple: can you tell a real novelist's sentence from imitations?

The puzzle shows a passage from a classic book with a gap marked as the missing sentence. Below it are four sentences that could fill it. One is what the author wrote; the other three are forgeries made to match the voice, the period and the plot. Monday's puzzle on 5 October 2026, for example, was a scene from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, where Jim overhears the mutineers, with forgeries that sounded close to Stevenson's pirates.

The week has a shape: puzzles ease in on Monday and build to a harder Sunday challenge. A new puzzle comes out at midnight UTC, the page counts down to it, and your streak is kept in your browser.

It suits readers of classic novels and anyone who enjoys games about telling the real from the fake, such as Bluffpedia or Plausible.

How to play Forgery (novlr)

1. Read the passage, paying attention to the sentences before and after the gap.
2. Read the four candidate sentences under 'Which sentence fills the gap?'.
3. Pick the one you think the author really wrote.
4. See whether you spotted the original, and keep your streak going day by day.

Tips

• Check that the sentence leads into what comes after the gap: the real line often sets up the next one exactly.
• Old novels have odd spellings and rhythms; a sentence that reads too smoothly may be a forgery.
• Expect the puzzles to get harder towards Sunday.

Questions