Dickensian streets are often described with terms that hint at their atmospheric character rather than a precise modern street map. In crossword clues, the phrase “like streets in Dickens novels” is commonly clued as GASLIT, a 6-letter word that evokes the dim, oppressive, fog-bound, and morally fraught urban environment Dickens repeatedly furnishes in his London narratives. This usage leverages the broader sense of “gaslit streets” as scenes lit by gas lamps in the灯-lit Victorian city, suggesting intrigue, danger, and social decay. If you’re solving a crossword and the clue is “Like streets in Dickens novels,” the standard answer you’ll encounter is:
- GASLIT (6 letters)
Context and related notes
- Dickens frequently situates his plots in tightly crowded, impoverished areas of London, often with narrow lanes and back alleys that feel both confining and treacherous to his characters. The lighting and atmosphere—gas lamps cutting through fog—contribute to the sense of danger and secrecy that pervades many scenes. This mood has made GASLIT a conventional crossword answer for such clues.
- For broader context, Dickens’s London locations include recognizable districts and streets that have been mapped and studied for literary tourism, illustrating how real places inspired settings in his fiction. This mapping highlights the vivid sense of place that readers associate with his works.
If you’d like, I can offer a quick walkthrough of how to deduce GASLIT from the clue, or provide other common Dickensian crossword answers and their explanations.
