Available Spaces by Foxymoron

The £150 million appropriately named Spirit of Britain, above, has spaces for around 180 lorries and makes several crossings per day from Dover to Calais. As it is one of about a dozen ferries, which set off at half hour intervals, it should not take that long to clear the 4,000 lorries queuing on the M20 or parked at Manston airport. I always struggle with maths, but I think they should be cleared in around 12 hours. Of course, that assumes that the ferries all start running again and that there are spaces for lorries and covid tests do not add to the delay.

Available spaces was the theme of a hand last night:

Only two declarers made 4S. One was the lucky beneficiary of a heart lead which cost the overtrick, but Robot East (clearly the wisest robot from the East) embarrassed us all by showing how the hand should be played. Vampyr led her singleton and North played the queen, ace and a third diamond. Most declarers ruffed with the nine and when South overruffed they could not make it. 

Robot East, one of the three wise robots, had no problem. There are 12 available spaces for the queen of spades in the South hand and 6 in the North hand, so ruffing with the nine is wrong. It ruffed with the king, ran the jack of spades, covered by the queen and ace and then ran all the trumps. Poor South was squeezed in hearts and clubs. She played her partner for the ace of clubs (or declarer for a singleton ace) but that just led to an overtrick, although 4S making was almost a top. I tell you, these robots are getting better.