clockwork

The retired cop, the newlyweds, the sword enthusiast — they return every school year like clockwork.

In 2005, the butter-wouldn’t-melt Gibson finally agreed to pose nude for Playboy, which had “called us like clockwork about every two years or so” since her 18th birthday.

Before those questions get their due, however, “Relay” sets itself up with clockwork precision as a straightforward big-city nail-biter about staying one step ahead.

In other words, earthquakes didn’t seem to re-occur like clockwork, rupturing the same stretch of fault in a repeatable, predictable pattern.

I’ve always liked trivia that rewards not just the recall of the right fact but has a little more mental clockwork involved so you have to solve some puzzles.