given the situation; now that it has come to this; if it comes to this
steady; honest; sober; straightforward
playing to the gallery; grandstanding; ad hoc; haphazard; dress rehearsal
road; path; route; way; distance; journey; road (e.g. to victory)
to reach; to amount to; to be up to the task; to come up to; to compare with; to be a match (for)
outward appearance; ostensible; public; official
tangent point; point of contact; contact (electrical, etc.); point of agreement; common ground
does not seem; unlikely; improbable
gambling den; gambling house
this world; earthly world; secular society; ordinary world; everyday life; workaday world
illegal; illicit; unlawful
outward appearance; exterior appearance; outward show; looks
condominium (usu. mid or high-rise); apartment building; apartment house; block of flats; apartment; flat
unlicensed gambling establishment
et cetera; etc.; and the like; the likes of; something like
mostly; ordinarily; probably; most; almost all; ordinary
large amount of money; great cost
to invest in; to sink money into; to put into; to lay out (funds); to inject; to impregnate
retaliation; revenge; reprisal; retorsion; retortion
to continue; to keep up; to keep on
common people; ordinary people; masses
clique; group; (political) faction; wing; school; sect
good at business; having a good head for business; good businessman; shrewd salesman
round-up (e.g. of criminals); wholesale arrest; catching the whole herd with one throw
minor offence; minor offense; misdemeanor; misdemeanour
to manage; to control; to supervise; to crack down on; to keep under strict control; to enforce
instead of; in place of; as a substitute for; in exchange for; in return for; to make up for
important person; influential figure; big shot; big thing; big one; big game
to catch; to capture; to grasp (e.g. meaning); to perceive; to captivate; to move (one's heart)
which way; which direction; which one (esp. of two alternatives); who
exposing; unmasking; laying bare
idealistic thought (argument)
armband; arm band; brassard
clamour; clamor; uproar; tumult; furore; furor
example; simile; metaphor; allegory
to live under another's roof; to become a dependent on; to flatten oneself (against); to lean in close to
then; in that case; considering; if that is the case; if so
natural; reasonable; obvious; usual; common; ordinary
to seek knowledge; to ask for instruction