John Hinton - the "PRINCE" - paid my entry fee on October 26th into the Southeast Florida & Friends toonimint for my birthday present! (He usually just sends me Milky Way Midnight bars) Florida SE's great club game welcomes many top American players to show-out in their friendly fold of "locals and pros".

And soooo - here comes intrepid Ish Delmonte, the transplanted Australian international champ and multiple ACBL National champ & WBF authority! - partnered by the cool "decodadmls" (Marty Singer) 🙁

Board. #15 dropped the ALL-TIME BOMBSHELL!

"NOT through the Iron DUKE!" I screamed as I pounded ishd's speculative 6♣ slam - but soon Halloween doubts crept in on little black-cats' feet. 

What am I gonna lead?

I pondered at great length before my passout. Dear reader, I'm sure there'd be votes for all 4 suits in the Master Solvers' Club. Gotta give ISH credit - he cudda bid RKCB, yet he rammed to 6♣ - ergo he "must" have a void, probably ♠, plus 1st or 2nd round ♥ and / or ♦ control. West could also have a red void and a ♦ void would be terminally fraught. A ♠ opening lead seems safer trusting John's "black magic" 1st seat VUL 3♠ opener - yet it might give them a pitch on the ♠A - could that be crucial?

It's just too totally cryptic - a HALLOWEEN HORROR - unreal & unholy. I decided to punt & pray with a ♠ opening lead, so finally I passed and shot-gunned out my ♠6 - but then an evil weirdness reigned -- the daemonic BBO Shape-Shifter possessed the entire scene!!

At the screaming height of this drama, out flew - my ♣4 - a trump attack! (first card on the left of my re-sorted hand!) An electric shock hit my brain as dummy flopped (....... drummroll .....) - would I survive this disaster ?

But LOOK! My metamorph was trying to SAVE me from the crypt! One pitch would not be fatal! Now all the Prince needed was Ace-high OR King-high for his "black-magic" VUL 3♠ opener - I'm redeemed because the satanic Shape-Shifter may have protected me from ceding a 2-trick free-finesse at trick 1!

SALVATION 🙂 (There's a dark realm beyond our our world, I swear). I snickered with glee as Marty took the ♠A for his ONE ♥ pitch, then 2 trumps. But now, I HEARD him uncontollably cackling at me - as he threw down his ♠K - and then his ♠Q just for punitive effect. 🙁 Then he tried to sneak his sneak  ♦ for the overtrick!

Again, "NOT through the Iron Duke!" I whimpered. But -1090 was entered on the spread-sheet - instead of +300. That let the intrepid ish win overall - us, not.

All I could tweet to my PRINCE was this classic understatement: "Sorry pard, I just shudda LED RED" 🙁 6 other N-S's got small pluses vs 5♣ & 5♦. One N-S got clobbered -500 in 5♠X. But "cubs 2016" (Linda Burke) & "Franic" (fran) saved us 5.56% by matching +1090 in 6♦X after the amazing auction of 4♠??-P-P-5♦; P-6♦!!-X float with the ♠J opening lead!

Have a GRUESOME HALLOWEEN!! 🙂