The Washington Post - 05.03.2020

C6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAy, MARCH 5 , 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 JAMES ALLEN

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)

♠ K 10 4

♥ K 4

♦ A Q 10 8 4

! 7 5 3

WEST

♠ Q J 9 6

♥ Q 9 8 6 5

♦ 7 2

! A J

EAST

♠ 7 3 2

♥ A 3 2

♦ 9 6 3

! 9 6 4 2

SOUTH

♠ A 8 5

♥ J 10 7

♦ K J 5

! K Q 10 8

The bidding:

S

ome people beg to differ;

Cy the Cynic insists on it.

When I watched today’s

deal at my club, Cy was

North and put his partner

in 3NT. (South’s 2NT bid

with no sure heart stopper

wouldn’t have been every-

one’s choice.) West led a

heart, and when dummy

played low, East took the ace

and returned a heart to the

king. Declarer then led a club

to his king, and West took

the ace and cashed three

more hearts. Down one.

“Unmakable,” South

shrugged. “I had only eight

tricks.”

“I beg to differ,” Cy

growled.

Was he right?

After South wins the sec-

ond trick, he loses nothing

by cashing five diamonds,

discarding a spade and a

club. West can safely pitch a

spade and the jack of clubs,

but since he happens to hold

the Q-J of spades, the last

diamond squeezes him. If

he throws a second spade,

declarer takes three spade

tricks and nine in all.

If instead West throws

a heart, South can safely

force out the ace of clubs.

The defense gets only three

hearts and a club.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold:

♠ A 8 5 ♥ J 10 7

♦ K J 5! K Q 10 8

You open one club, your

partner responds one spade,

you bid 1NT and he jumps

to three hearts. What do you

say?

ANSWER: Some players

would insist on 3NT since

they have the minor suits

stopped. The disciplined and

correct bid is three spades

to show three-card support

for partner’s first suit. That is

what he wants to hear. If he

has weak spades and semi-

balanced pattern, he can try

3NT himself.

N-S VULNERABLE

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

1 ♦ Pass 2 NT Pass

3 NT All Pass

Opening lead — ♥ 6

BRIDGE

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— Frank Stewart