You might guess that I was the other defender, holding AJx Jxx Q98x
Qxx. I was ready to win my trump trick and play on one of the black
suits to get my trump promotion (and probably SA and a spade if given
no strong clue, since that needed the least), hoping partner's discard
would tell me which black suit to play. Instead, partner pitched the
HK, which seemed to say "better luck next hand"....
Instead I sat there for 2 minutes trying to work out how the HK could
have been the right discard. All I could figure was that partner was
telling me he had no hope of an entry.
Of course, declarer can always make by winning the diamond with her K
and playing three rounds of clubs (hooking) to pitch a spade, but I
swear she was always going to duck the second round of trump to
me...she has here DJ ready to play before my partner even produced the
HK.
Christopher Monsour