11.   It drags along interminably, with no real payoff.

12.   Most of the new episodes lack the emotional heft that gives the show its real payoff.

13.   Now comes time for the real payoff.

14.   Some say that those improvements, rather than the immediate spending by visitors, were the real payoff of the Games.

15.   The real payoff comes from within.

16.   The real payoff for Lucent may come down the line in overseas markets.

17.   The real payoff of the five-mile loop hike is a sensational overlook from which the islands of Molokai and Maui can be seen in the distance.

18.   The real payoff, of course, would come if the national missile defense gets constructed in a way that fulfills the Reagan-era vision.

19.   The real payoff, she says, comes in the moments when she knows she has made a difference.

20.   The real payoff comes from equity offerings and advising on mergers, but the sluggish stock market has made those deals scarce.