BRIDGE MASTERCLASS CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

West AKQ AQ10 AJ7 876 5

East 10653 985 543 AKQ

YOU are West, declarer in 3NT, and North leads the ♦K, which you duck, and South plays the ♦6; he then switches to a low club. Plan the play. USUALLY, I hope, you base your line of play solely on the evidence of the bidding auction. Today, there’s no such evidence (bid 1NT-3NT), and you need to construct the opponents’ hands from the cards they play. You have eight top tricks and a ninth if one of the black suits breaks 3-3, but assume they don’t (in line with the odds). You win ♣A and cash ♠AK, noting that North discards ♥2; when you next play a club to the king, South this time discards a low diamond. You take a deep heart finesse, which North wins with the knave and returns a heart, to which South follows low. We have only reached trick seven, but already you have a complete count of both opponents’ hands, including their high cards. Plenty of time to hatch a devious plan for an overtrick, now that your contract is secured. You will see tomorrow how it helps to be able to picture the hands (North was 1-5-6-1 and South 5-2-1-5), and the solution is quite clever.

ACROSS

1 One favouring

a lot of gas? (12) 8 Unappreciative type reacting badly after leaving clubs (7) 9 Current bachelor in sum in fancy passengercarrying vehicle (7) 11 Exuberant British Tories possibly followed by ordinary American (10) 12 Trouble facing first person,

one taking fares? (4) 14 Argument about thing at work at the present time (5,3) 16 Old party concealing

struggle in Spanish city (6) 17 Sailor has objective

50 per cent reduced (3) 19 Scribbled notes about

posh railway station (6) 21 Last month cooked tripe

in poor condition? (8) 24 Some choose a channel

per person? (4) 25 Dull common hero

requiring makeover (10) 27 Nurse admitting trouble in the last stage? (4,3) 28 Damage entrance to

drive in Kent town (7) 29 Fashionable French tea getting tip to the highest degree (2,3,7)

DOWN

1 Sign of poverty in existence around capitals of Gabon and Ghana (7) 2 Attuning to environment in film based on a book, say (10) 3 Busy sort beginning to consume first of this salad item (8) 4 Odd drink taken up

in hullabaloo (6) 5 Component in superior

nets in French river (4) 6 Tense old boy not walking

properly being at fault (2,5) 7 I’d set numbers poorly for

paying out from a fund? (12) 10 Those flip sadly over enclosure showing mistake in writing? (4,2,3,3) 13 Levy too much about

accusation in law? (10) 15 Roll of paper shown in

Western commercial (3) 18 Make a promise again about small group lacking support (8) 20 Scout in ground showing

process in a vacuum? (7) 22 Inclined to accept fine area

of a secular nature (7) 23 Robin, maybe, starts to import exotic sort of sweatshirt (6) 26 Writer linked to

quiet network (4)