1.   Even as the trajectory of his thought kept rising in the early seventies, the clock was ticking on his pet project.

2.   Only a clock ticked and a saucepan sizzled, now and then, upon the diminutive stove.

3.   The clock ticks.

4.   The phone stopped and the clock ticked and the phone started a third time.

5.   The phone stopped ringing and the clock ticked then the phone started again and the clock stopped.

6.   The phone stopped, the clock ticked.

7.   The old clock ticked noisily.

8.   The clock ticked merrily in the corner.

9.   A wind-up clock ticked busily from the kitchen counter.