Ned Rorem, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, said, "Humor is the ability to see three sides to one coin."

When we looked at this deal in yesterday's column, South saw the third side to the coin. In four hearts, instead of relying on either the diamond finesse (heads) or the club finesse (tails), he ruffed the third round of spades, drew trumps ending on the board, and led the fourth spade, discarding a club when East covered. East was endplayed, forced to lead a minor and concede a 10th trick to declarer.

However, East should have noted a fourth side to this coin. How can the defenders defeat four hearts after West leads the spade ace?

At trick one, it is tempting for East to signal encouragingly with his 10. But he should wonder from where four tricks might come -- the defensive target. With ace-king-doubleton of spades, West would have led the king, not the ace. So there are at most two tricks there. And from the point-count, West cannot have another winner. Rather than hoping declarer will take those losing minor-suit finesses, East should discourage at trick one, playing his spade two. Then West should shift to the club three, the low card guaranteeing an honor in the suit.

Now the defenders have the coin-flip on declarer. If South calls for dummy's low club, East wins with his nine, plays a low spade to his partner's king, and gets another club lead. If South finesses dummy's club queen, East wins and plays either a spade or a club. If South wins with dummy's club ace, he is still doomed.

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