Ratner's Star (44 page)
healthier                      svelthier
Faced with temptingly equivocal data, the annotator immediately begins to _______ .
validate                      salivate
Being concealed, the woman's starring _______ was difficult to interpret.
role                      mole
Some children have to be _______ into playing certain games.
coaxed                      hoaxed
Logical thought is indispensable to _______ in the midst of this, the most ambiguous of all possible worlds.
surviving                      conniving
Amusing, isn't it, how it's always the most rational of individuals, positioned securely in the dark, beyond reach of even the faintest trace of sunlight, who refuses to entertain the notion that under these or similar circumstances he'll ever be _______ by his own shadow.
heightened                      frightened
After observing that the introductory bulletin accompanying the quiz card was stamped with the attesting emblem of a notary public, he made his way back to the cubicle, where a young woman was waiting.
“Hi.”
“H'o.”
Her visit was brief and the interview she conducted, although it had its opaque moments, was pretty easy to take. She rolled the TV table over to the chair and took notes as they talked. Billy sat on the bed, his back against the partition.
“I'm Jean Sweet Venable. I'm sure Rob's told you about me.”
“Terwilliger, William.”
“I'm sure you were warned about a writer on the prowl.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Rob gave me permission to research this whole project and eventually do a book. Sounds fairly intriguing, this Logicon business. The fact that someone like you is involved makes it all the more so.”
“What's your question?”
“Do you calculate in longhand or on the typewriter?”
“I use a pencil.”
“What are some of your other work habits?”
“I write in the dark.”
“That's exactly the kind of thing I want.”