Deal of complexity

When Oedipus arrived in Thebes, a monster, the Sphinx, with the head of a woman and body of a lion, was terrorizing the city, accosting travelers and plying them with a riddle. If they failed to answer, they were devoured. Oedipus went in search of the beast and soon heard the infamous riddle.

“How do you make 3NT in this deal,” the Sphinx asked, “when West leads the king and deuce of clubs, and East takes the ace and returns the jack to South’s queen? West discards a diamond.”

“Instead of bidding 3NT,” Oedipus asked, stalling for time, “why didn’t we penalize East’s risky two- club overcall and collect a safe 500 points?”

“Beats me,” the Sphinx replied, “but if the riddle were how to beat two clubs doubled, I’d never get a decent meal.”

Oedipus saw that if he led a heart next, East, who was marked with the ace for his bid, would win and run the clubs. The only hope seemed to be a squeeze.

At length, Oedipus saw the answer. He had to assume that East had a guard in diamonds as well as the ace of hearts, hence East’s hand would be short in spades. So at Trick Four, Oedipus led a spade to dummy’s ten and then took the king, ace and queen.

“East can throw a heart,” Oedipus announced, “but on the fourth spade he must give up a club. Then I can force out the ace of hearts, losing only three clubs and one heart.”

Enraged that a mere mortal had solved the riddle, the Sphinx leaped to her death.

“It was a complex deal,” Oedipus mused. “Maybe one day it’ll be known as the Oedipus Complex.”