The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-16
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"a q
III;

Clubs are trumps and u Is In the lead.
Y and Il want seven tricks, and they
agree to take those seven tricks without
using an ace. unless A and B give them
to them.
The solution Is for z to lead the Jack
Of spades. which Y wins and leads the
seven OF trumps. 1t does not matter
whether r covers the trump lead or not.
a. z must win the second round OF
trumps in either case.
As AS remaining spade Is OF no use
70 him he will probably discard Il on the
second trump lead. When Y leads the
three Of spades so as TO put Y back into
the lead A Is face to face with the prin-
cipal condition Of the solution Of the
problem.
If A discards a diamond Y will at
once throw him into the lead with a
heart. upon which z will discard his
small diamond. Now A must give Il
" tricks will the two aces. In order
TO prevent this A discards the ace Of
hearts on the spade lead.
This turns the attention to BIS hand.
and Y leads the nine OF hearts. II B re-
fuses to win It Y will go right along
with the six. which h must win. or he
allows Y to make the king and solve
the problem at once.
While this play in the heart suit Is
going on between Y and Il II is evident
that u has to throw ava both his aces
and the queen Of diamonds. so that no
ace at the table ever takes a trick.
Correct solutions from:
Only four persons solved this problem :
J. c. Hume. w. p. w. Henry Andersen
and Roscoe G. Harris. All other failed
through not complying with the terms.
as they made u deliberately lead an ace
and take a trick with it. when there were
still three other cards in his hand to
lead that were not aces.
II was rather a difficult matter to
state the conditions clearly without dis
closing the key to the solution. which
would have made 1t no problem at all.
The composer twice revised his statement
Of the condition before the problem
finally appeared.
The first idea was 10 say that Y and
z were not 10 win a trick with an ace,
unless the trick were forced upon them (:
but as A was the only player who could
do this. and the only card he could get
In with was the ace of heart. any one
could nav guessed the solution at a
glance, and there would be nothing to
II.
II was clearly stated that no ace was
10 win "A trick unless A or Il gave Il
20 them. This does not mean that IL z
tried to win a trick with an ace and
they could trump it that they must do
20. Giving a Player a trick hat he
could not otherwise have made (by
leading right up to that suit) Is one
thing. Allowing him to win tricks when
he Is In the lead Is quite another thing.
Those who tried TO solve the problem
by leading a small spade. won by Y with
the king, and returning a small heart for
y to trump cannot be credited with cor
rect solutions. because after Y leads the
top trump he must follow with the ace
of diamonds, when he Is not forced to
10 SO at all. II b refuses to trump 1t.
the ace wins .
This Is a violation Of the terms OF
III problem. as 3 does not give him the
trick z takes It. z could nave led three
other cards that were not aces.
In tho correct solution. on the other
hand. II A keeps the ace Of hearts z
n forced to mak tricks with his aces
bv AS play. because he cannot get rid
Of the lead. and must make his aces In
spite Of himself. Two OF those who sent
In correct solutions noted this point.
Here Ia something from a composer
who never falls to please and who has
given the cracks some OF the hardes,
propositions imaginable for seven OF
eight cards. In this one he has added
an extra card Just to compllcate thing,
q bit.