by N.Z. Red & A.M. Black
Certain situations call not for immediate action, but for careful deliberation. This was the case when North led the bidding with the ace of diamonds, signalling a no trump low card ruffle shuffle. West, unfortunately, chose action over deliberation, opening the two of diamonds and irreparably destabilizing her board position.
After taking a moment to catch her breath, South flinched a double dummy ruff and came up with the five of diamonds, isolating herself from the incipient carnage. East, crestfallen, put up the seven of hearts, to an unsurprisingly tepid reaction.
Recalling her partner's instructions, North opened a doubleton spill. The early bird may get the worm, but in this case the eight of spades got the declarer a defensive blind, winning her team some much-needed time. West locked eyes with East, misunderstood the signal, and prematurely revealed that sentimental old fool, the jack of hearts.
Doubt took hold of West's mind. Would she opt for singleton ruffs, or search the dummy for scrap? This was a situation that called not for careful deliberation, but for immediate action. The buzzer sounded and West lost her turn.
Craftily, South scooped up the two of hearts and five of hearts in one fluid motion, unnoticed by East or the judges' table. (West would call a misplay three days later, far too late to revert the game state.) Aware only that things weren't going her way, East started chewing her fingernails and passed.
Obviously North was now carrying "Ten-Dime" (that's the ten of diamonds, to you layfolk), and the only question was where to pass it. South called out that she was wide open, but West intercepted, carrying the card to the end of the crib and claiming a huge triple trick score bonus. What had up to this point been a sad display of ineptitude was now anybody's game.
Desperation can be both ally and saboteur, and nobody knows this better than South. Thinking quickly (but not too quickly), she led the five of clubs, tricking East into answering the six of diamonds.
Even a Goren or a Sharif could have missed North's final move, the one that clinched the game: Revealing the seven of diamonds (up to now hidden somewhere we can't mention in the newspaper), she stood up and flicked the card at the ceiling, activating the fire extinguishers. In the ensuing chaos, North and South grabbed all the chips and dashed to the exit.
Answer Checker:
Hints: If you know anything about how bridge works, you are at a severe disadvantage here, because I do not. First look at the authors, and at the first letter of each paragraph. Use a code to decrypt the cards mentioned in the text of the article. "XOR" means, look at the two sets of cards (in the table at the beginning), and eliminate any cards that appear in both sets.