Grimmest

The always-reliable Adam Kirsch comes through in Slate: "In a novel full of grim jokes, the grimmest is the possibility that if the planet is to stand a chance of being saved, its fate may lie in the hands of a man like Michael Beard." ❋ Anis Shivani (2010)

The grimmest was a black-bordered news advertisement published in forty-nine American newspapers the morning the Lusitania sailed: ❋ Massie, Robert K., 1929- (2003)

This ghost, laughing a little too loudly, would be all the more terrible for the flicker of awful, self-deluding pride kindling in it at the thought of white-knuckling through the grimmest month of the year with nothing to talk about in company but how it has given up drink. ❋ Sam Leith (2011)

But even during the somewhat tense finale, the picture remains a morbid farce, as a serious discussion about whether a Wookie (ie - Chewbacca from Star Wars) counts as a bear occurs under the grimmest of circumstances. ❋ Scott Mendelson (2010)

The fate of Iraqi Christians is perhaps the grimmest omen of all; since 2003, about half of them have fled the country, driven out by ferocious sectarian attacks, and the remaining half marches on in dread of further violence. ❋ Christian C. Sahner (2011)

We discussed the challenges organisations face in building any sense of community in some of the grimmest housing estates in the country. ❋ Unknown (2011)

The thing was never built, thank God, but as the Lockup cameras sniff out the grimmest intimacies of prison life, and rush toward its flash points, it seems proper to ask ourselves what, in this case, “the purpose” might be. ❋ Unknown (2010)

At the same time, the actual employment rate for 16 - to 24-year-olds dropped to a startling 46 percent, the grimmest such figure on record since 1948, the year the government began keeping track. ❋ Unknown (2009)

In what the Bush administration used to call “the Greater Middle East,” Washington is now in its third and grimmest surge iteration. ❋ Tom Engelhardt (2011)

It was important to remember that, in even the grimmest of situations, there is kindness as well as cruelty, terror as well as boredom, and even, surprising as it may seem, humor. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Even the grimmest novel can reward the reader with insights into human nature or through the sheer beauty of its writing. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Swing Nation This year's campaign—to be conducted against the grimmest economic backdrop for a presidential race in 75 years—is shaping up as unusually costly, grueling and unpredictable. ❋ Neil King Jr. (2012)

The doctors and nurses who treated Henry and spoke to his anxious parents over the years are too numerous to be thanked individually, but I owe heartfelt thanks to them all—and to the many friends and relatives who visited Henry in the hospital and kept in touch even at the grimmest moments of his disorder. ❋ Patrick Cockburn (2011)

Those get the grimmest and could use cleaning but I am uncertain how to proceed. ❋ Unknown (2009)