Not, Mr. Ayckbourn said, that the play ought to seem a mere trick.

They take training for tasks very well, but appear less trainable if being taught mere tricks.

That charade in the garden the other night seems like the merest trick now.

As Layton and his friends investigates, he finds that these supposed miracles are mere tricks designed to target someone.

I have sometimes played, and won a game - it's a mere trick - without seeing the board.

This and other devices have been described as mere tricks; and so they sometimes were.

It may be a mere trick of preconditioning.

That was no mere "dirty trick"; it could be a violation of the U.S. criminal code.

They take pride in the fact that they maintained their homes while their neighbors were run off by mere tricks of the light.

Jan was ready with the rope, if the whole thing proved to be a mere trick for putting off the fateful hour.