But the trap-jaw ant has a cunning technique at its disposal.
In one species of scorpionfly, males have evolved a cunning technique to catch mates and prolong the process of copulation.
In one essay, Julia Emberley, a professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, argues that the footwear industry has perfected a cunning marketing technique: presenting shoes as art objects.
Research on the Staffordshire hoard, the largest hoard of precious metal from the period ever found, has revealed that their craftsmen had a cunning plan, a secret technique which gave lower grade metal with a high silver content the appearance of pure gleaming gold.
The city's large ethnic-minority population (many of which come from cultures with strong traditions of deference and patronage) may have made its elections especially vulnerable.The techniques ranged from the clever and cunning to the simple and brazen.
The marriage of quirky eccentricity and psychological authenticity is a Gardam technique, but here her cunning wit, moving deftly between scenes and eras, displays the tragedy of a vintage world forever passing away.
While prudence is an instrument of organic unity, cunning and reason of state are nothing but techniques designed to affirm individualistic egoism and, for this reason, are doomed to failure, as is amply demonstrated by the tragic end of Machiavellian heroes, whose successes are revealed to be merely apparent or ephemeral, or by the sad life of tyrants, constantly plagued by suspicions and fears.
The production's really cunning trick is to use a plethora of "poor theatre" techniques to tap into the audience's imagination and make us do much of the work.
Pétanque is thus a game of dexterity and technique, but also of gamesmanship, bad behaviour and sheer animal cunning.
