THURSDAY, JUNE 9 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE C7
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
SUDOKUNORTH (D)
♠ A 4
♥ A J 2
♦ 9 7 4
♣ A Q 7 4 2
WEST
♠ 9 6 5 2
♥ 7 4
♦ 10 5 2
♣ J 9 8 3EAST
♠ K J 10 8 3
♥ Q 10 9 8
♦ 6
♣ K 10 5
SOUTH
♠ Q 7
♥ K 6 5 3
♦ A K Q J 8 3
♣ 6The bidding:“T
he man’s a Houdini,”
Cy the Cynic grumbled
to me in the club lounge. “I
had him staked to an anthill
in this deal, and he escaped.”
Cy was talking about Ed,
my club’s best player, who
regularly takes Cy’s money —
and everyone else’s — in our
penny games. Ed was declar-
er at six diamonds, and West
led a spade in deference to
Cy’s overcall.
“I had the spades and
hearts tied up as well as the
king of clubs,” Cy said. “I
thought we would beat the
slam at least one trick.”
Ed took the ace of spades,
cashed the ace of clubs,
ruffed a club and took the
A-K of trumps. When the
Cynic threw a spade, Ed
exited with a spade.
Cy was stuck. If he led the
king of clubs, Ed would ruff
and get two heart discards
on the Q-7 of clubs; if Cy led
a heart, Ed would get a free
finesse plus an extra dummy
entry to set up the clubs.
When Cy led a third spade,
Ed ruffed in dummy, ruffed
a club to drop the king and
easily took the rest.
“At least I didn’t double,”
Cy growled.
DAILY QUESTION
You hold:
♠ A 4 ♥ A J 2
♦ 9 7 4 ♣ A Q 7 4 2
You open 1NT (15 to 17
points), and your partner
responds two diamonds, a
transfer. You bid two hearts,
and he then bids two spades.
What do you say?
ANSWER: Partner’s two
spades is forcing. Since you
have a decent hand with
three cards in hearts, you
might jump to four hearts,
but he might hold K Q 7 6,
K 9 8 7 5, J 5 3, 3. Bid three
clubs to show strength there
and let him make the final
decision.N-S VULNERABLENORTH EAST SOUTH WEST
1 ♣ 1 ♠ 2 ♦ Pass
2 NT Pass 4 ♦ Pass
4 ♠ Pass 6 ♦ All Pass
Opening lead — ♠ 2BRIDGE©2022, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
— Frank Stewart