SHORTLY after America toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, in the brief interval when it looked as if installing a democracy in his place might be plain sailing, some members of the Bush administration pondered whether it might be a neat idea to knock over the other Baathist dictator, Syria's President Bashar Assad, as well.
Some felt that the reason might be plain indifference.
The result might be plain to see at the very highest levels of American soccer: an often efficient US men's national team but one often lacking players capable of moments of genius.
Shades might be plain, designed, reversible, and so on.
This might be plain cardstock, colored cardstock, patterned cardstock, corrugated card, etc.
It might be as plain as a candied chestnut and a spoonful of puréed, maple-spiked sweet potatoes with a little brown butter, or a more complex grouping of sweet strawberries, oil of mint, little beads filled with liquefied chocolate and panna cotta infused with lemon verbena.
Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project also suggests that when things do go missing, start cleaning because it might be in plain sight.
Similarly, I noted that the role of the soy-honey-vinegar mixture was so subtle, and played such a small part in the overall picture, that it might be played by plain, high-quality soy sauce; the chef agreed.
It might be expected that plain packaging of B&H cigarettes is unlikely to have much effect among socially disadvantaged smokers as this brand is positioned as a premium product at a high price point, 29 with apparent low penetration among this smoker group: only 1.6% of participants reported regularly using B&H cigarettes compared with 9% in the general population.
Or it might be hidden in such plain sight that you don't even see it.
