"Ah... well, I was actually referring to Slade's contest. It does have some, ah, interesting parallels with capitalism, which I wished to draw attention to because I think it might shed light on his motives."

He was not actually sure whether that had been a request for clarification, but he suspected that it was as close to one as he was going to get. It seemed to him that they were having some communication problems that were not entirely on his end - but also that it would be easier on everyone if he acted as though they were.

"Apologies for any miscommunication, but, ah... English is not my first language."