The Washington Post - USA (2020-12-02)

C6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 , 2020

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY! TIM RICKARD

CURTIS RAY BILLINGSLEY

SHERMAN’S LAGOON JIM TOOMEY

RED AND ROVER BRIAN BASSET

FRANK AND ERNEST TOM THAVES

RHYMES WITH ORANGE HILARY PRICE

LIO MARK TATULLI

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE CHRIS BROWNE

BLONDIE DEAN YOUNG & JOHN MARSHALL

MIKE DU JOUR MIKE LESTER

AGNES TONY COCHRAN

WUMO MIKAEL WULFF & ANDERS MORGENTHALER

MARK TRAIL JULES RIVERA

MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM MIKE PETERS

BALDO HECTOR CANTU & CARLOS CASTELLANOS

SALLY FORTH FRANCESCO MARCIULIANO & JIM KEEFE

CLASSIC PEANUTS CHARLES SCHULZ

CLASSIC DOONESBURY GARRY TRUDEAU PICKLES BRIAN CRANE

SUDOKU

NORTH (D)

♠ J 3

♥ A K J 3

♦ A K 6

♣ 10 8 6 3

WEST

♠ A K 2

♥ 7 5

♦ J 9 5 3 2

♣ A 5 2

EAST

♠ 6 5

♥ 10 8 6 4 2

♦ 10

♣ K J 9 7 4

SOUTH

♠ Q 10 9 8 7 4

♥ Q 9

♦ Q 8 7 4

♣ Q

The bidding:

W

endy, my club’s femi-

nist, had won in the

day’s penny game. Cy the

Cynic had been the big loser.

As today’s South, Cy held

a hand with a quartet of

queens. When North opened

1NT, Cy boldly bid four

spades.

Wendy, West, led a heart,

and Cy took the queen, king

and ace to pitch his queen

of clubs (not best; he should

have led trumps). Wendy

ruffed, and instead of trying

to cash her ace of clubs, she

shifted to a diamond. The

Cynic won in dummy and led

a trump, but Wendy won and

led a second diamond. East

ruffed, and Wendy’s ace of

trumps won the setting trick.

“Cy acted as if I’d found a

good defense by accident,”

Wendy told me. “It never

occurs to him that a woman

might get the better of him

via superior skill.”

Wendy judged from Cy’s

play that his pattern was

6-2-4-1, so a diamond shift

was marked. She beats the

contract even if Cy has Q 10

9 8 7 4, Q 9, Q 8 7, Q 3.

“A man blames a woman

who beats him,” Wendy said,

“like he blames a door he

bumps into in the dark.”

DAILY QUESTION

You hold:

♠ A K 2 ♥ 7 5

♦ J 9 5 3 2 ♣ A 5 2

You open one diamond,

your partner bids one spade,

you raise to two spades and

he tries 2NT. What do you

say?

ANSWER: Partner’s 2NT

shows game interest and

suggests about 11 points,

balanced pattern and only

four spades. You can’t bid

game; your hand is a mini-

mum. To play at notrump is

unattractive, but your dia-

monds are ragged and you

can’t return to spades with

only three-card support. Pass

and hope for the best.

N-S VULNERABLE

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

1 NT Pass 4 ♠ All Pass

Opening lead — ♥ 7

BRIDGE

©2020, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.

— Frank Stewart