Do not be fooled by the word “cryptic” in the subordinate clause, for this will likely lead you to choose either “encode” or “reorder.” The actual implication is that his handwriting is cryptic because it is shorthand. The best choice is therefore “abbreviate,” which is clearly related to the familiar word “abbreviation.” To abbreviate is to render something in a shorter form. It comes from the Latin for “short” and is related to English words like “brevity,” “brief,” and “breviloquence.”

"Secret plots" and "conspiracies" are key words here, because colluding means to conspiring or acting together in secret. Another hint is that collude is related to collaborate, which has a similar meaning without the shady connotation.

The sense of the sentence is that Jonathan’s anger decreased over time. The only word that indicates that is “waned.” The word is often used to speak of the moon, which is said to “wax” when it grows larger and to “wane” when it shines with less surface area. The word is often used to describe the diminution of an emotion or quality.

The word "despite" tells us that the second half of the sentence will contradict the first. So looking at the first half, we would think that the suspect would go to jail, but we need to complete the second half with a word that contradicts that. Incriminate fits here, because the sentence says that the evidence was not enough to send the suspect to jail.

From the first part of the sentence, we know that Tom doesn't understand that heavy clouds mean rain. He is not able to forecast, or predict, the weather. It is common to hear about people broadcasting the weather, but that does not fit as well with the first half of the sentence.

The key thing to note is that Benjamin had to transfer many tasks from one side of his body to the other. When someone “compensates,” they use one thing to make up for the (real or perceived) deficiencies in another. The word can also mean “to pay back in due measure,” as when an employee is compensated for work. This is related but not the same to the sense being used here.

We know neither if these organizations would visit or bother the investor, but it is quite obvious that they are asking for something (i.e. donations); therefore, we can at least say that they are “soliciting” him. The word is related to English words like “solicitude” (meaning “showing concern”) and is more distantly derived from Latin roots meaning “anxious.” In the case of our usage of “solicit,” you can think of it as being “anxious” to get a donation.

Since Peter had no reason to drive past his girlfriend’s house, he needed to create the circumstances that would allow him to do so. When one “contrives” something, he or she creates it by means of explicit skill. This option is better than “created,” for “contrived” captures the sense of the need for Peter’s creative effort.

Since Barbara gathered a large collection, the best term to select is “amassed.” The other two tempting options are likely “heaped” or “piled,” but while these two words do partially imply a respectable number of items, (in order to create a heap or a pile), they primarily signify the act of creating the piles or heaps. The word “amass,” on the other hand, primarily means “to gather together,” usually implying a large number as well. The word is indifferent to the manner by which these items are gathered together.

Since even the most perceptive philosophers misunderstand analogical predication, it “escapes” them. When something “eludes” someone, it “escapes” him or her in the sense of not being understood. The word comes from Latin roots literally meaning “to play away from,” though it takes more nuanced forms in English. It is related to words like “illusion,” “elusive,” and even “prelude."