Christopher Morley, a novelist and journalist who died in 1957, said, “The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.”

The real purpose of bridge columns is to try to make the reader do his own thinking. Most deals have a trap that must be avoided, but today’s has more than one. To make four hearts, declarer’s timing must be perfect after West leads the spade queen. For the energetic, which lead from West would have defeated the contract?

South certainly could have taken the bidding slower, but jumping to four hearts with such a self-sufficient suit was eminently reasonable. (Note that five diamonds goes down after a spade lead.)

South wishes to draw trumps and run the diamonds for his contract. But this spade lead is annoying. If declarer takes the first trick, he can ruff a spade on the board, but he would have four unavoidable losers: two spades, one heart and one club. Instead, South must let West hold the first trick.

Suppose West now shifts to a diamond. What must declarer do?

If South takes the trick and attacks trumps, a second diamond from West cuts declarer off from the dummy. Instead, South must win with his diamond king, ruff a spade in the dummy, and drive out the club ace. Then, he can win the next diamond trick on the board and discard his remaining spade on the club queen. He loses only one spade, one heart and one club.

An initial diamond lead is lethal, assuming the defenders persevere with a second diamond when next on play.