DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

“I heard you’re in a relationship with that woman with a wooden leg again,” I said to Cy the Cynic. “I thought you told me you broke it off.”

Cy has a new girlfriend every month. “We’re seeing each other again,” he admitted. “I even gave her a Christmas present.”

“Which was?”

“A spare wooden leg,” Cy said. “But it was just a stocking stuffer.”

Cy didn’t have a leg to stand on, wooden or otherwise, after today’s deal. He was declarer at 3NT, and West led a spade. The Cynic put up dummy’s queen, winning, and took the A-K-Q of clubs.

When West discarded a heart, Cy tried a heart to his queen. The finesse won, but he took only eight tricks: three clubs, two hearts, two spades and a diamond.

Cy’s play wooden pass muster. He should finesse in hearts at Trick Two. If West had the king, Cy would need five club tricks. But when the heart finesse wins, Cy can duck a club next, winning four club tricks and nine in all if the clubs break no worse than 4-2.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ A42 ♥ AQ2 ◆ A 7653 ♣ 5 3. Your partner opens one heart, you respond two diamonds and he rebids two hearts. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: To jump to four hearts and settle for an all-but-sure game would be reasonable, but your partner could have an ideal minimum hand that would make six hearts a good spot. Bid two spades, intending to support the hearts next.