1.   The kitchen door opened a crack and a servant, her head bound tightly in blue cloth, peeked into the room.

2.   As long as the door remains open a crack, Griffey apparently enjoys the freedom to go in or out.

3.   A door that had opened a crack between my mother and me closed for good.

4.   But a decade of overspending, the rise of a militant domestic opposition and uncertainties about the royal succession have opened new cracks in the House of Saud.

5.   But the tourists and their dollars have also opened a crack in the state-run economy, allowing a tiny private sector to emerge.

6.   Denny Fulk, a precinct captain canvassing Citadel Avenue, rang the bell, and as soon as the door opened a crack, launched into his pitch.

7.   If the door was only open a crack for Blalock to make this club when spring training began, Lamb has almost literally kicked it off its hinges.

8.   Lose three, and the door remains open a crack.

9.   Now it was open a crack -- just enough to see light shining through.

10.   That is, shutting the door when it seems to open a crack.