DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

Today’s deal reminds me of the man who liked to tell jokes — but always punched up the goofline.

At four hearts, South took the ace of clubs and feared that if he led a trump, East might win and lead a diamond through the king. So South next took the queen, king and ace of spades to pitch a diamond.

East-West followed — fine so far — but South then led a trump. West won with the queen, cashed his ace of diamonds and then led his last spade. East ruffed with his king of trumps, and West’s ace won the setting trick.

South almost made it through the deal. He could have succeeded by leading a trump at Trick Two, then guessing right if East won and switched to a diamond.

But South could have made the game with his actual line of play. After he took the top spades, he could lead dummy’s fourth spade and discard his king of diamonds. When West won and led the ace of diamonds, South could ruff and start the trumps, losing only two trump tricks.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ Q2 ♥ J8743 ◆ K 6 ♣ A K J 4. Your partner opens one spade, you bid two hearts, he rebids two spades and you try three clubs. Partner bids three hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER: Partner lacks good heart support. With three decent hearts, he often would have raised to three hearts at his second turn. To bid 3NT now would not be wrong, but many players would bid three spades, leaving open a chance to play game.