Meaning of まんまと in this sentence Here is the sentence : > Does means that the speaker fell into the trap easily or voluntarily? Or is the idea that he is willing to fall into the trap only contained in ? Thanks for your time. EDIT : The speaker says that after being convinced by the hearer (which he just beat) to let him evolve in order to make the fight interesting. Taking the risk of becoming weaker than his opponent in the process.

A native reader may have more definitive understanding but my suggestion is to imagine

(1) the statement with and w/o the adverb and

(2) how the speaker would have said it and what words he might have emphasised: eg "I let you catch me" vs "I let you catch me _easily_ ", or perhaps "I neatly (conveniently?) let you catch me".

I think can be used with by itself so it adds to the irony of the speaker's statement, reminding us how we was in control all along. Without the adverb it becomes very factual, with the adverb we get a better insight into the speaker's intention, and given the situation, he is likely to use one to express his feeling.

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Just for reference I also looked at the following sample sentences from the " to confirm my understanding of

>
> I was neatly taken in.
>
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> I won't let you get away so easily.
>
>
> In that way he succeeded in enticing the monkey to approach.