| Answer | Crossword Clue |
|---|---|
| SEEM | "Things aren't as bad as they ..." |
| SEEM | "... as bad as they ..." |
| ROTTENTOTHECORE | As bad as they come |
| QED | Gertrude Stein's first novel, published posthumously as "Things As They Are" |
| CYNIC | One "whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be": Bierce |
| idealist | person, as an artist or writer, who represents things imaginatively or as they should be rather than as they are |
| realities | The world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them |
