Play or Save?

Question

• Alice clues number 3 to Bob, which touches two cards on slot 3 and slot 5.
• This is a Chop Focus clue, which means that slot 5 is focused.
• Bob writes a card note on both of the cards.

1. What card note does Bob write on each card?
2. What action should Bob perform?

Solution

1. Bob writes "r3" on the slot 5 card, and "y3, g3, b3, p3" on the slot 3 card.
   • Since Bob got a Chop Focus clue, he should treat it as a Play Clue or a Save Clue.
   • However, there are no directly playable 3's, so this cannot be a direct Play Clue.
   • The only 3 in the trash is the red 3, so this must be a Save Clue on a red 3.
   • This cannot be a Self-Finesse, because Alice would expect Bob to treat the clue as a Save Clue on the red 3.
   • This cannot be a Reverse Finesse. Even though Cathy has a red 2 on her Finesse Position, Cathy would interpret a clue touching a critical red 3 on chop as a Save Clue. Thus, she would never blind-play anything from Alice's clue.
2. Assuming that Alice has no cards of interest, Bob should clue number 2 to Cathy as a Play Clue on the red 2. (A number 2 clue is better than a red clue because it gets the purple 2 "for free".)