verb
Elude: to evade the search or pursuit of by dexterity or artifice; to escape capture. Also, to escape the understanding of, as in The answer eluded me.
Allude: to refer to casually or indirectly.
If you want something, it will elude you. If you do not want something, you will get ten of it in the mail.
New York Times columnist Anna Quindlen Living Out Loud (1988)
Grammar.com’s section on Problem Words discusses elude and allude. Click here for that discussion.