Bridge

Cy the Cynic says that if you want crushed ice, tell the cubes they’ll never amount to anything. Part of winning bridge is being an empathetic partner. If you were today’s North, how supportive would you be of South?

North’s double conventionally showed three-card spade support; a bid of two spades would have shown four-card support. Against four spades, West led a heart, and East took the ace and shifted to . . . the queen of diamonds.

South eyed that card with suspicion, but he judged that East had led from QJ-9. So South played low, and East next led the nine of diamonds. True to his view, South played low, and West took the jack and returned a diamond for down one.

South was dismayed, but North delivered a crushing blow.

“You lost your mind,” he snarled. “East bid; he was marked with the ace of diamonds.”

North’s comment was ungenerous, unfair and unhelpful. He would have done better to commiserate with South and compliment East on fine defense.