1.  It played a dominant role in helping Republican Gov. George Pataki unseat former Gov. Mario Cuomo last fall.

2.  It played a key role in corking North Korea's nuclear-weapons program.

3.  It played academic jazz.

4.  It played an early role in the deterioration of relations between blacks and Jews.

5.  It played video and sound without a hitch.

6.  It plays a 36-week season while accompanying local opera and ballet companies, performing regularly for schoolchildren and traveling throughout Louisiana.

7.  It plays a role in heart attacks and strokes and some forms of cancer.

8.  It plays a short melody after a player solves a puzzle _ not much of a trophy after spending an hour dealing with shattered glass, but pleasant nonetheless.

9.  It plays a very important role in where your pit stall is going to be.

10.  It plays a vital role in world politics.