11.   Framed prints were centered unimaginatively over the sofa, knickknacks were clumped randomly on the bookshelves in a futile effort to inject character.

12.   He called it a futile effort since Clinton is prepared to use his veto authority.

13.   He punched wildly on many occasions and leaned against the ropes in a futile effort to get Crayton to exchange punches several times.

14.   Hoffman went on to describe his futile efforts to interest the authorities.

15.   I would have ex-wives by the dozen, all hating me, and would infuriate them by laughing at their futile efforts to kill me.

16.   In a futile effort at concealment, he lied not only under oath and to the public but also to his cabinet and White House staff.

17.   In its ongoing futile effort to purge Western culture from the country, Iran has come out with an Islamic answer to Barbie and Ken.

18.   It was, he concedes, a futile effort pursued more as a moral protest than a realistic mission.

19.   Kennedy had foreseen this when he made a futile effort to persuade new exiles to settle in other parts of the country.

20.   Mature players will have to settle for winning all the time or else frustrate themselves in futile efforts to master more complex machinations.