11.   But, in a World Cup full of upsets, nothing seems less certain now than convention.

12.   Gore is beginning to seem less an heir to Clinton than to his White House predecessor.

13.   His speech was deliberate, and he seemed less a salesman than an academic.

14.   It is a return to the grassroots for an organization that in recent years has seemed less a military fighting force and more a big business.

15.   It seems less an artistic alternative to Disney than a proliferation of it.

16.   Now that the Internet seems less threatening, newspapers are either scrapping their plans, or rethinking them.

17.   Optimists sometimes used to say there was a possibility that China could turn out as well as Indonesia, but now Indonesia seems less a model than a nightmare.

18.   The killer, a slender, delicate-looking young man, seems less a person than the incarnation of the vague dread that surrounds him.

19.   Viewed in this vein, the novel begins to seem less a surprising professional detour for Ms. Collins than a necessary personal departure.

20.   Wall Street seemed to like the latest deal on Monday, but seemed less certain Tuesday.