"I never would have thought of such a clever ruse."

Or had the entire episode with Cadderly been merely a clever ruse?

Or to my half brother, with no further need for this clever ruse to keep me off balance?

I have a suspicion that their stock offerings were only clever ruses.

"What if it's all some sort of clever ruse," I said.

He did not know of the clever ruse that Moe had contemplated and used.

Even if it were some sort of clever ruse, at this range they could never power up in time to constitute a threat.

That could have been a clever ruse, to put us off our guard.

A clever ruse; for it served a double purpose.

It was a very clever ruse, and it almost worked.