DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

“This kind of thing drives me nuts,” Cy the Cynic told me. “I was driving to Atlanta, and the traffic on the interstate came to a dead stop. When I finally got to where it was moving again, there was no sign of a problem: no wreck, no construction, no nothing. There’s a reason for everything — except traffic jams.”

You may sympathize with Cy, and I felt for him after today’s deal. As declarer at 3NT, Cy won the third spade and led a diamond to dummy’s queen. East took the ace ... and returned a diamond.

Cy was sure there was a reason why East hadn’t cashed the defenders’ good spade: He didn’t have it. So the Cynic took the king of clubs and led to dummy’s jack. He expected no more than four losers whether the finesse won or lost. But when East took the queen, he produced the missing spade! Down one.

If East cashes the 13th spade when he takes the ace of diamonds, Cy may guess correctly in clubs and make 3NT. But East’s actual defense almost compelled Cy to go down.

DAILY QUESTION:

You hold: ♠ 1062 ♥ AQ4 ◆ Q2 ♣ AJ1074.Your partner opens one diamond, you respond two clubs and he rebids two diamonds. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: Though it’s possible that you belong at five diamonds, you should aim for the nine-trick notrump game. Bid two hearts. If partner next bids 2NT, raise to 3NT. If he does anything else, you will know to steer clear of notrump.