Swammerdami
Squadron Leader
Do we have any bridge players here at IIDB? I will show a fascinating bridge puzzle, but first a digression to explain why I put this thread in the Political forum.
In 2016 the QOP staged a Presidential debate. There were many issues they could have debated:
"If my hands are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem."
(If I'd been on the stage I'd have told Trump, "Unzip or shut up.")
Anyway, somebody came out with T-shirts that say "Trump is too small." Civil suits were filed, probably now on their way to the Supreme Court. Does the precedent Whats-his-name v. Doe, Doe and Roe protect a celebrity from such a smear? Or does free speech trump that right? A QOP Administration would ignore the law and take whichever position would hurt the Democrats, but Democrats are principled and the Biden Administration is taking Trump's side in the dispute.
Trump Is Too Small.
In this post I propose a solution. The motto can be printed on a T-shirt, but in a context where it is clearly lawful.
The remainder of this post is just a puzzle in the game of contract bridge. Even if you don't like such puzzles, look at this one: It is quite nifty!
South declares Five Clubs. He'd be down immediately if West led the Spade Jack but instead West leads a Diamond.
South ruffs the opening diamond led with the Club Jack, plays the Heart Ace and Heart King, pitching a spade from dummy. He then ruffs his small Heart in dummy, so he can ruff another Diamond with the Club Queen. He then leads his Seven of Clubs to dummy's Eight, so he can play a third diamond ruffing with the Club King. East presumably follows to the Club lead with his Deuce.
Wrong! this Trump Is Too Small! East has just allowed South to make his Five Diamond contract
South then leads his carefully preserved Club Six to dummy's Ten, so he can ruff a final Diamond (with an honor). Dummy's long diamond is now good for the eleventh trick, but how can declarer get to dummy to cash it? For that matter, if you've been following along carefully, you see that declarer has only one Trump left -- the Three, which will lose to East's Four.
No problem! Lead the Trump (pitching a Spade from dummy) which East must win. He can cash his Spade Ace now or later, but either way you have eleven tricks -- the King of Spades and the long Diamond make up for the Trump you lost deliberately!
East followed suit on the first round of Trumps but his Trump Was Too Small! (Interchange Club Deuce and Trey to make it a "better" double-dummy puzzle.)
So: If we show the bridge hand on the T-shirt, will it not pass muster in civil court?
In 2016 the QOP staged a Presidential debate. There were many issues they could have debated:
- Should women who abort their 10 week-old fetus be guilty of 1st-degree murder, or is 2nd-degree enough?
- All QOPsters agree that we should ally with Putin's Russia and renounce our ties to NATO, but should we sweeten the deal by offering Putin the names of our secret agents operating in Russia?
- Show our contempt for "woke" culture by referring to blacks as Nigras and women as bitches? Or does that not go far enough -- we should use the words nigger and c*nt?
"If my hands are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem."
(If I'd been on the stage I'd have told Trump, "Unzip or shut up.")
Anyway, somebody came out with T-shirts that say "Trump is too small." Civil suits were filed, probably now on their way to the Supreme Court. Does the precedent Whats-his-name v. Doe, Doe and Roe protect a celebrity from such a smear? Or does free speech trump that right? A QOP Administration would ignore the law and take whichever position would hurt the Democrats, but Democrats are principled and the Biden Administration is taking Trump's side in the dispute.
Trump Is Too Small.
In this post I propose a solution. The motto can be printed on a T-shirt, but in a context where it is clearly lawful.
The remainder of this post is just a puzzle in the game of contract bridge. Even if you don't like such puzzles, look at this one: It is quite nifty!
Code:
♠ K 7 4 2
♥ 8
♦ 8 7 5 3 2
♣ 10 9 8
♠ J 5 3 ♠ A Q 10
♥ Q 9 7 6 5 3 ♥ J 4 2
♦ A K Q J ♦ 10 9 6 4
♣ - ♣ 5 4 2
♠ 9 8 6
♥ A K 10
♦ -
♣ A K Q J 7 6 3South declares Five Clubs. He'd be down immediately if West led the Spade Jack but instead West leads a Diamond.
South ruffs the opening diamond led with the Club Jack, plays the Heart Ace and Heart King, pitching a spade from dummy. He then ruffs his small Heart in dummy, so he can ruff another Diamond with the Club Queen. He then leads his Seven of Clubs to dummy's Eight, so he can play a third diamond ruffing with the Club King. East presumably follows to the Club lead with his Deuce.
Wrong! this Trump Is Too Small! East has just allowed South to make his Five Diamond contract
South then leads his carefully preserved Club Six to dummy's Ten, so he can ruff a final Diamond (with an honor). Dummy's long diamond is now good for the eleventh trick, but how can declarer get to dummy to cash it? For that matter, if you've been following along carefully, you see that declarer has only one Trump left -- the Three, which will lose to East's Four.
No problem! Lead the Trump (pitching a Spade from dummy) which East must win. He can cash his Spade Ace now or later, but either way you have eleven tricks -- the King of Spades and the long Diamond make up for the Trump you lost deliberately!
East followed suit on the first round of Trumps but his Trump Was Too Small! (Interchange Club Deuce and Trey to make it a "better" double-dummy puzzle.)
So: If we show the bridge hand on the T-shirt, will it not pass muster in civil court?
