THE ANSWER COMES ONE TRICK TOO LATE

Jeff Nichols, a screenwriter and movie director, said, “I thought Mud would be such an easy film for people to understand.”

Last week, I gave a deal in which West was leading against four spades with three low hearts, East having opened one heart. I pointed out that West should lead his lowest heart even though he did not have an honor in the suit. In partner’s unsupported suit, a high lead should be from either a singleton or a doubleton.

This generated a few emails asking why I had not mentioned MUD: middle, up, down.

It is true that MUD enjoyed popularity when I was learning the game. But twice at college, I had to decide at trick two whether my partner had led from a doubleton or a tripleton — as in today’s deal. (I got one right and one wrong.)

Look at East’s problem when West leads the heart six against four spades. If that is from a doubleton, East can take his top hearts, give his partner a heart ruff and wait for the setting trick with his trump trick. But in this deal, where West has led from a tripleton, East must shift to a club at trick two. How does he know what to do?

If West leads the heart two, East has more chance of finding the winning defense. If he knows that his partner started with either a singleton or a tripleton, his chances of finding the winning play improve. It

bridge

DOWN 2 Surpass 3 Head and shoulders sculpture 4 Impending 5 Solid 6 Weariness 8 Brimstone 11 Traveller’s complaint (3,3) 13 Binge 15 Pick-me-up 16 Dog-biter

is much harder when partner could have a doubleton or a tripleton.

Give up murky MUD.