Is a Devil's Triangle a drinking game or a sexual act involving two men and one woman? What does "boof" mean? And why would a high school football team describe themselves as members of the 'Renate Alumni'? Was it code to claim that young Renate, a female classmate, was a chalkmark on each of their bedposts?

"You need a date/And it's getting late/So don't hesitate/To call Renate," one student's yearbook page reads.

It's not pleasant stuff, any of it.

These are all questions arising from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's yearbook that remain largely unanswered, despite hours of questioning and testimony to get to the core of the nominee's character as he fights allegations from several women about his behaviour in high school.

And those continuing questions are among many that appear to have now delayed his confirmation for at least a week.

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Democrats made a deal via Republican senator Jeff Flake who has struggled with this, and was bailed up by a victims' advocate in a lift on his way to the hearing on Friday morning.

He subsequently told his Republican colleagues he wouldn't confirm the nominee unless proper due diligence was done.

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On Friday morning, he released a statement saying he'd still vote to confirm Mr Kavanaugh.

Then this happened:

Sorry, this video has expired Two protesters confronted US senator Jeff Flake in an elevator

So how did we get here again?

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A woman is outed after making anonymous allegations, receives death threats, has to move out of her house and relocate her family, swallows her fear of flying and travels to Washington DC to tearfully outline her lifelong terror after two boys, allegedly, attacked her three decades ago.

"What is the strongest memory you have?" she's asked by one senator about the alleged incident with Mr Kavanaugh and a friend.

"Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter," she says. "The uproarious laughter between the two and their having fun at my expense."

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Christine Blasey Ford wanted "to be helpful", she says, when she decided to reveal her story to help inform a decision on a lifelong appointee to the Supreme Court, the moral arbiter of the land.

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At a time of dramatically shifting attitudes to sexual harassment and assault, her testimony rivets a nation and reverberates around the world. Her demeanour is credible and consistent, both Republicans and Democrats say.

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They believe she was assaulted, all those years ago.

"I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me," she said of the alleged incident in 1982.

"He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I yelled hoping that someone downstairs might hear me and I tried to get away from him but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was very inebriated."

Sorry, this video has expired Christine Blasey Ford testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee

For a moment, it looked as though the Republican Supreme Court nominee's road had come to a dead end.

But then, the accused man takes the oath, his fury at the allegations against him from Dr Ford and others visibly boiling over. Too belligerent? Or a valid reaction from a man wrongly accused?

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He lashes out at a confirmation process that's become "a national disgrace", demonstrates obvious anger at the Democrats on the panel, weeps at the damage to his life, career, family.

"The other night, Ashley and my daughter Liza said their prayers. And little Liza, all of 10 years old, said to Ashley, 'We should pray for the woman'," Mr Kavanaugh said.

"That's a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old. We mean no ill will."

He angrily interrupts the senators who are questioning him, dismisses several of their questions without answering fully, and prevaricates over his high school behaviour.

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"This whole two-week effort has been an orchestrated political hit, fuelled with pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election," he tells the panel.

Republicans like Lindsey Graham agree:

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But on his innocence Mr Kavanaugh does not waver, saying he believes Dr Ford may have been assaulted. But it wasn't him.

"I swear today under oath before the Senate and the nation, before my family and God that I am innocent of this charge."

Sorry, this video has expired Brett Kavanaugh emotional as he appears before Senate Judiciary Committee

After all the theatre, who to believe?

In homes and offices, in conference rooms and metro cars, in classrooms and churches and coffee shops, women watched. They thought back to their own experiences — to the times they kept quiet instead of speaking out.

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But though many shared the pain, it may drive them apart rather than bringing them together.

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What's next?

Back to Senator Flake, the Republican from Arizona, who told the judiciary committee he'd vote no on the Senate floor unless there was a one-week FBI investigation into the matter.

Almost immediately, others said they'd vote with Senator Flake, threatening Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Be aware that this is a VERY delicate situation for Republicans. Installing Mr Kavanaugh would tip the balance of the nine-member court to 5-4 in favour of conservatives. It's a lifetime appointment, meaning the judges get to influence the direction of US policy for a generation.

Chances like this are rare, and with a set of very competitive mid-term elections ahead they may lose the opportunity if the Democrats pull out a blinder and take control of the Senate, which confirms nominees.

However, if they rush it, they risk alienating Republican women at a time when attitudes to sexual assault are fast evolving. And those women vote.

Delicate.

US President Donald Trump has authorised the one-week FBI investigation.

But will it change anything?

It's tough to say, but expect every statement Mr Kavanaugh has made on the record in his own defence to now to be scrutinised.

Devil's Triangle? He said the reference in his bio in the yearbook referred to a drinking game. Did it?

Boofing? Is it a fart joke, as he told the committee, or a reference to anal use of drugs as has been reported?

Renate Alumnius? The dates on his calendar? His relationship to Professor Ford?

As Americans lose faith in government institutions, this appointment to "the highest court in the land" has become a symbol of something much bigger.

If he's caught out in even one lie, it's over.

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A cascading series of incidents have intersected to set the stage for where we find ourselves.

This week, one of those cases that started it all was resolved.

After years of legal proceedings and a failed trial last year, Bill Cosby, America's Dad, went to jail on Tuesday for drugging and molesting a woman in 2004.

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Around 60 other women have come forward with similar allegations, and after several testified at the trial, he was jailed for 10 years with a non-parole period of three.

Times are changing.