DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

My daughter, an animal lover, explained to me the difference between an alligator and a crocodile: “One says he’ll see you later; the other says he’ll see you in a while.”

You might think all finesses are the same. That was not the case in today’s deal.

At six hearts, East took the ace of diamonds and returned a diamond. South won, drew trumps and saw that he could get home if a black-suit finesse worked. Either finesse was a 50-50 shot, so South tossed a mental coin and led a spade to dummy’s jack. Down one.

Instead of relying on a choice of finesses, South should combine his chances. He can take the K-A of spades and is safe when the queen falls from East. If both defenders played low spades, declarer would let the 10 of clubs ride.

To cash the top clubs first with a spade finesse in reserve would be a bit inferior. Since South has seven spades but only six clubs, the queen of spades is more likely to fall.

DAILY QUESTION:

You hold: ♠ KJ4 ♥ K9 63 ◆ Q6 ♣ AKJ9. The dealer, at your right, opens one diamond. You double, and your partner bids one spade. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: You would have doubled if your king of hearts were a low heart, but your queen of diamonds may be worthless. Your partner may have an extremely weak hand, and you have only three-card spade support. Though it might be wrong, to pass is your percentage call.