Grammar Question

Yes, it is, but that wasn't the question LazyReporter posed.

I'm not going to presume why the sentence was written that way. Maybe it was for specificity. Maybe it was for effect. But if the dependent clause is there, it's was. If the commas are removed, it's were.

 

Not arguing that. But even if you keep the plays part, losing the commas improves the flow of the sentence, which is why I posted what I did.

 

But doing so may change the meaning of the sentence.

The question was regarding the proper word for the original sentence.

 

"The playbook, and each of the plays therein, ..." is awkwardly written.

Simple way:

"The entire playbook was banned..."

I really don't want to see the word "therein" in that sentence.

 

"Entire playbook" is redundant

 

i thought part of the playbook were therein banned.

 

yup, therein lies the problem.

 

That is a tricky grammar question because usually "and" makes the subject plural.

But the real answer is to rewrite the sentence to make it simpler, clearer and less awkward.

 

therein is the truth, spoken therein by Ace.

 

I'm with ... everybody.

Sentence as originally presented: was.

Sentence without the commas: were.

But it's a bad sentence anyway, so rewrite it.