In the approaching months, don't let it dismay you if you have to shoulder more career-related responsibilities than usual. With the additional work will come more rewards, such as acclaim, promotion and a fatter paycheck.
This year's bridge whodunit is "Deadly Endplay" by Ken Allan (Master Point Press). It is about people in Pemberton, a Canadian town. (The author lives in Kingston, Ontario.) The main difference between this book and its cousins is that it contains more bridge deals.
One of the hardest skills to learn is judging how an opponent will react to your play. This deal from the book is an example. If you had been South in four spades, what would you have done after West led the diamond jack?
The bidding is not recommended. A limit raise requires four trumps. However, if North had responded two clubs (or two diamonds, showing where her points lay), South would have rebid two hearts and ruined the point of the deal.
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: I have been dating my boyfriend for a year, and I love him. We have been seriously discussing marriage. I know I want to marry him, but in my less sane moments I still find myself intrigued by other guys. It isn't so much that I want to date them, but I still enjoy that feeling of "the hunt."
DEAR ABBY: My brother "Dan" cheated on his wife, "Darlene." His affair lasted five years before he dumped Darlene to pursue a relationship with the other woman. My problem is, every time family members invite Darlene and her children to be part of an event, we have to listen to her long, drawn-out monologue about Dan's affair with "that woman."
DEAR ABBY: I am a high school sophomore who is usually pretty happy. I have amazing friends and a great family, and I make good grades. I have liked "Michael" for three years, and recently he has begun to show more of an interest in me. He's polite to everyone, but my friends have noticed he pays more attention to me than to anyone else.