Q. In a large document, I am spelling out numbers under 100. For consistency, if I have a sentence with a list that includes 99 and 101, I would write them both as numerals. Does this rule apply per sentence, per paragraph, per page, per report? This feels like such a silly question, but I honestly am struggling with it.
A. CMOS 9.7 calls for consistency “in the immediate context,” which you might call “within eyeshot”—that is, anywhere you think a reader might be distracted by the inconsistency.