Cash by Foxymoron

Cash is an interesting word, with many different meanings. The financial one is also unusual, with "Cash in" and "Cash out" having very similar meanings. I remember Obama saying that he had to bring the US back to prosperity. "Until recently we had Cash, Jobs and Hope", he said eloquently in his re-election address.

Cashing out in bridge is often difficult. I think the SIMs compiler for Tuesday's game had been reading recent Woodberry Blogs, in which eight-card suits and voids were prevalent. This week's SIMs event, in memory of the late Pater Jordan, was won online by Matthew and Rachel Bingham with a splendid national score of 69%.

South opened 3D at Game All on the above wild hand and North took his chances in 4S, but East was not shut out and bid 4NT, showing the other two suits. Usually West contented himself with 5C, which was indeed the limit of the hand. Some North players elected to defend that and they had to cash the king of diamonds to beat it. Leading the king of spades would be fatal as the diamond loser would go away. At our table North bid 5S, and against that East-West had to cash their rounded-suit winners to beat it. Scores were all over the shop on this wild board, with 5Cx= and 5Sx= being the tops in each direction.

"All over the shop" was first recorded as British 'pugilistic slang' in Hotten's Slang Dictionary of 1874 : to inflict severe punishment on an opponent was 'to knock him all over the shop'. We leave the last word to the wild man:

"People call me wild. Not really though, I'm not. I guess I've never been normal, not what you call Establishment. I'm Country." Johnny Cash