Sentence:  About all that remains to be said <WSD>is</WSD> that the present selection , most of which appeared first in The New Yorker , comprises ( as usual ) a slightly unstrung necklace , held together by little more than a slender thread cunningly inserted in the spine of the book . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)