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...With Q♣ not falling, the plan now requires reasonably balanced distribution. South cashed A♦ and K♠ and went over to dummy with A♠ to play K♦, throwing a spade from hand....
...When this loses, East can cash K♠ and lead Q♦, but declarer has time to win A♦, cash J♣, cross to dummy with J♥, and then play A♣ on which he can discard a diamond loser....
...However, West hopped up with Q♥, led 7♣ to East’s Q♣ and then received a third club. Whether declarer trumps high or low, a second trump trick is promoted for West....
...He crosses to dummy’s Q♥ and ruffs a second low spade, noting that the suit is dividing 4-3. He pulls the final trump, crosses to J♦, and ruffs a third spade with his last trump....
...J Paul Horne Alexandria, VA, US...
...Over the past year the FTSE 100 has gained 1.23 per cent, while the S&P 500 has risen by 31.3 per cent....
...BiddingDealer South E/W Game West leads A♥ and, assuming a heart ruff in dummy, if West holds K♣ or Q♦, all should be easy. Leading a low club towards dummy’s Q♣ seems the best move....
...BiddingDealer: EastN/S Game West led 10♥, which ran to East’s J♥. East cashed A♥ and led K♥, which declarer ruffed. What is the best line now? Only one successful minor suit finesse is required....
...A straightforward hand: simple bidding, clear plan, plenty of entries. Why did so many declarers fail? BiddingDealer: EastN/S Game West led J♥, and declarer assessed one likely loser in each suit....
...BiddingDealer: NorthLove All West led J♣ instantly; South indentified five losers: two diamonds, two low hearts and A♠....
...Even metrics with better track records, such as cyclically adjusted PEs, or Q-ratios that focus instead on balance sheets, show the S&P to be hugely overvalued....
...M&S’s contract with HSBC, which owns M&S Bank, is up for renewal. M&S is likely to push for more control and a bigger cut of the spoils....
...Fearing a diamond ruff now, declarer cashes ♥KQ and pitches a diamond from dummy. This achieved, he led a low club, West rose with A♣ and led his 6♦, which East won with Q♦....
...The deduction makes sense: if East leads a heart, West will surely be unable to ruff high ahead of dummy’s J♠ and this will indicate that East holds Q♠....
...Dummy’s 10♠ is still a live card, especially if East is on lead. At trick three, South cashes his other heart — eliminating the suit from both hands. Now, he plays Q♦....
...Even if West could win Q♦, he is still struggling to avoid helping declarer. With J♦ winning, declarer next tried Q♥, also ducked by East, also winning....
...The Throne of Glass series was followed by a second, beginning with A Court of Thorns and Roses, a book she had begun writing while a jobless recent graduate about a huntress who lives in a snowy wood, looking...
...At trick two, South ducks East’s Q♣; West does not ruff. East continues with J♣; South plays K♣ perforce, West will ruff and switch to a spade....
...Despite Greenspan’s intervention, the S&P 500 went on to more than double, destroying the careers of any money managers who shared the professors’ conviction....
...Robert A J MatthewsDidcot, Oxfordshire, UK...
...Next week you can join the journalists behind the award-winning Inside Politics newsletter and Political Fix podcast for an expert Q&A to digest the results....
...Luca J Uberti Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy...
...“M&S has a history of overpromising and underdelivering.” The strong performance from Tesco and M&S comes a day after rival J Sainsbury disappointed investors with weak general merchandise sales....
...Dieter S, 39, and Alexander J, 37, had been in communication with Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU) to plan acts of sabotage on German soil, said the federal prosecutor....
...To succeed wherever Q♠ and K♦ lie, West must be stripped of a safe way of getting off lead once he wins the first finesse....
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