Puppets and Muppets by Foxymoron

 

First there was Stayman, then there was 5-card Puppet Stayman, invented by Kit Woolsey, and then there was Muppet Stayman, The idea of the former is that the weaker hand shows the other Major, hence Puppet. In response to 2NT, a bid of 3C asks partner if she has a five-card major, which she bids, or a 4-card major when she bids 3D. Responder then bids the major she doesn't have. Puppeteer Jim Henson invented the muppets, but he did not invent Muppet Stayman which was also pioneered by Woolsey where the opener bids 3NT with 5 hearts. On the hand below, Janet Cahm and Marietta Andree, welcome visitors from the Wimbledon Club, used Puppet Stayman to good effect:

In response to 3C, North showed her 5-card heart suit and South judged well to bid Roman Keycard Blackwood. North showed 1 or 4 key cards, clearly 4, and South bid the good slam. East led a top diamond and Janet started well, cashing two high hearts. Now when the queen dropped she played two top clubs ending in dummy and now had a 100% line of ruffing a club high, crossing to the jack of hearts and taking two discards on the clubs. Instead she was greedy and tried to cash a third high club and if East had ruffed that she would have been a trick short. But East also took his eye off the ball and discarded, fatally. It is thought this expression comes from baseball, but is often used in golf and other activities as well.

The EBED SIMs, in aid of bridge development, was a great success and the hands with a good commentary by Brian Senior are at:

https://www.ebu.co.uk/sims/events/20210907_g3u64rtnxjr/20210907_commentary.pdf

Brian mentions that 6NT can be made on a strip squeeze and endplay on a spade lead. Declarer plays low from dummy and the ten forces the ace. Now declarer has seven red winners, and in the five-card ending West has to keep the king of spades and four clubs. Now declarer cashes two top clubs and throws West in with the king of spades to lead into the club tenace. The expression tenace, for any honour combination with a gap, comes from whist. Its etymology is the Spanish tenaza forceps, ultimately from Latin tenāx, holding fast, from tenēre to hold. The reason for the origin is unclear, but maybe that the two honours surround the other honour like a nutcracker with a walnut.