to devise an elaborate plan; to exercise one's ingenuity; to work out a scheme
far and away the best; the very best; cream of the crop; crème de la crème; decisive lead; commanding lead
to take over (someone's duties, business, etc.); to inherit; to succeed to; to hand over
goes without saying; needless to say; obvious
battle; fight; fighting; engagement; contest
part; portion; glimpse; bit
to come to a dead end; to come to a standstill; to reach a deadlock; to reach an impasse; to reach a stalemate
not yet known; unknown; strange
just made; fresh (e.g. from the oven); newly built (e.g. house); brand-new
moderate; proper; just right
natural posture (esp. in judo); natural stance; natural attitude; relaxed manner; calm manner
(switched) on; being on the green (of one's ball)
(switched) off; off-season; offset; off-road; offline; offline get-together; offside
ability; capacity; capability; physical strength
handle; grip; holder; person who holds
tired; frazzled; tiresome; tiring; draining
sopping wet; dripping wet; sodden; drenched; soaked
to run down (stairs, etc.)
to penetrate; to pervade; to spread
white paper; flyleaf; blank paper; clean slate; lack of prior opinion, positions, etc.; scratch
tolerable; passable; adequate; so-so
nothing one can say (e.g. about something perfect); not a thing one can complain about; better than one could hope for
highlight; best part; stunning; incredible; to stun; to amaze
to know thoroughly; to have full knowledge of
offense and defense; offence and defence
bulky and heavy; massive; solid; dignified; imposing; composed
relief; embossed carving; bringing to the fore; throwing something into relief
being put to shame; being outshone; being eclipsed; feeling embarrassed
momentum; amount of exercise
to look away (from); to avert one's gaze; to disregard; to ignore; to escape (from); to turn away (from)
advanced student; advanced learner; advanced practitioner; experienced person
source of worry; source of distress
smoothly; swimmingly; forthrightly; without hesitation
while fumbling one's words; with a stutter
to stub out (e.g. a cigarette); to crush out; to smother (fire); to hush up; to cover up; to stifle
performing a part in one's own play; playing a musical piece that one has written; doing everything by oneself (from preparation to execution); put-up job; charade; sock-puppeting (i.e. pretending to be more than one person on the Internet)
indecisively; hesitantly; irresolutely; wishy-washily
to grovel; to go down on one's hands and knees
bang; bam; noontime signal gun (carried out early Meiji to Taishō); noon gun; last round in a game of 12 rounds; precisely