Word: guesswork
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...projections of the cocaine supply, which still amount to guesswork, nonetheless indicate that the Government's longtime effort at interdicting shipments has been largely ineffective. In fact, smugglers have become so efficient and so numerous that since 1981 the median national retail price of cocaine has declined from $115 a gram...
...Most Wanted program reported on the case, featuring a sculptor's bust portraying List, now 63, as he would appear today. A tip to the program's hot line led FBI agents to Robert Clark in Brandermill, Va., an accountant who bore a striking resemblance to the sculptor's guesswork. Fingerprints indicated that authorities had found their man. New Jersey prosecutors expect to charge List/Clark with five overdue counts of first-degree murder...
Accidents usually accelerate John Irving's antic plots and keep his readers tuned for what happens next. A Prayer for Owen Meany takes a somewhat different approach. Framed by the myth of victim as redeemer, the book removes guesswork without reducing expectations. One knows going in that the mischievous author is staging a kind of "Gospel According to Charlie Brown." But anyone familiar with Irving's mastery of narrative technique, his dark humor and moral resolve also knows his fiction is cute like...
Consider, for example, the Washlet, a technological wonder that takes the guesswork out of cleaning up. A kind of toilet bowl-cum-bidet, the Washlet sprays a water jet, then dries with a blast of warm air. For added comfort, the seat is heated. It even has a safety device: to prevent the mechanically inquisitive from being sprayed in the face, the water nozzle will not work until a sensor registers the presence of a seat upon the seat. The fruit of a two-year survey of the Japanese anatomy -- in search of the perfect angle for the water nozzle...
...take the guesswork out of making such an investment, some parents hire independent education consultants. For fees that can top $2,000, these self- styled experts assess a student's strengths, draw up a list of recommended schools, conduct mock interviews and make sure all materials are filed on time. "It takes a lot of pressure off parents," says one Rye, N.Y., mother. "And it's a tremendous relief for my daughter as well...