1.   Better to poll investment professionals famous for their skepticism, people who know how to take a sharp pencil to corporate financial statements.

2.   After ordering lunch, they settled into the conference room with their notepads and sharp pencils.

3.   Farmers, Utlaut said, are going to have to have sharp pencils.

4.   He talks about pushing the sharp pencil, of trusting old farm equipment, of believing that next year will be wet and well-timed enough for a bumper crop.

5.   Hold the metal pole up to the existing doorjamb, and using a sharp pencil, mark the lag-bolt holes.

6.   It also shows how a canny advertising agency used a bit of gender reversal, improvisation and a sharp pencil to hone a comic concept for the fragrance.

7.   The final and most important step is to nail down a price before you sit in that little office across the desk from the salesperson with the sharp pencil.

8.   Use a sharp pencil and square to make a straight line on the board.