worst case

Jones has now given a more accurate 12-week time frame which will rule Lake out of at least the first half of the tournament and probably the whole competition, unless he can beat the worst-case diagnosis.

"In fact, the 10 bits per second are needed only in worst-case situations, and most of the time our environment changes at a much more leisurely pace."

One of the first things she teaches her clients is to plan for the worst-case scenario: “Even if you do not have three to six months of savings, having some is better than having none.”

A worst-case scenario has all this, coming after an extended government shutdown, followed by a debt-limit battle in the summer, when deficit-minded conservatives may be even less willing to fall in line behind the president.

Among worst-case scenarios are a deepening civil war or the conversion of the once-wealthy and now devastated country into a haven for militants such as the Islamic State.