Simple Saturday

Aries (March 21-April 19). Something percolating in your mind? Get the conversation started. Tossing ideas around among friends can be highly stimulating today.

Taurus (April 20-May 20). Nurture your lucrative ideas. Ready to put them out there? Go public.

Gemini (May 21-June 21). Oh, the places you’ll go! A restless motivation sweeps through you today. What adventure stokes your curiosity?

Cancer (June 22-July 22). Feeling fidgety? Heightened levels of anxious energy can stir up the need to make changes. Assess what wants to shift.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22). Teamwork makes the dream work today. Envisioning your pie in the sky? Get a friend on board to realize it.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). In the zone? Your intellect is flowing. Active communication leads you to success.

Libra (Sept.23-Oct. 23). Entertain an idea just for the fun of it. Abstract concepts rush in.

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Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Restless energy circulates on the home front. Thinking about what you’d like to change? Strategize how you’d make improvements.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Don’t spend the day alone! Or in one place, for that matter. Grab a friend and hit the road.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Searching for bargains? Make it your job to find the deal. The Gemini moon motivates Mars for a financial score.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Where’s the fun at? Your drive to socialize is on extra. Call up your people to get the party started.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20). Mental energy ramps up today. Tired but wired? It can be hard to chill when your brain is on 11.

“Simple Saturday” columns treat basic technique and logical thinking.

Today’s South might have blasted into 3NT at his second turn; no opening lead would beat that game. When South preferred to probe by bidding two spades, North signed off; but South tried again, and North went on to five diamonds with his “working” queen of spades and side ace.

West led the queen of clubs, and South took the ace, drew trumps, went to the ace of hearts and let the queen of spades ride. West won, and the defense cashed a club and two hearts.

Illusion

South succeeds with careful play. At Trick Two he leads a low spade. The finesse is an illusion; South gets two spade tricks whether it wins or loses. West takes the king and leads a second club, and East wins and shifts to the king of hearts.

South takes the ace and cashes the A-K of trumps. He pitches dummy’s low hearts on the A-J of spades, ruffs a heart, ruffs a club, ruffs his last heart and wins the last two tricks with trumps.

Daily question

You hold: ♠ AJ5 ♥ 752 ♦ A K Q J 9♣ A 4. You open one diamond, your partner responds one heart, you jump to 2NT and he bids three diamonds. What do you say?

Answer: Your 2NT showed a balanced 19 or so points and was almost but not quite forcing. Partner’s three diamonds is forcing. Bid three hearts, showing three-card support for his suit. He can return to 3NT. If instead he judges to play at four hearts or five diamonds, fine.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

NORTH

♠ Q

A43 7532 ♣ 86532

WEST

♠ K 10 6 3 2 10 9 8

8

♣ Q J 10 9

EAST

♠ 9874 KQJ6 10 6 4

♣ K7

SOUTH

♠ AJ5

752 AKQJ9 ♣ A4