Finesse (Mind Loft)

Finesse is a card-play puzzle in the style of a bridge double dummy problem. All four hands are visible, a trump suit is named, and the contract tells you how many tricks you must win, for example five of the seven. You play South and the dummy hand opposite; the two defenders are played by a solver that sees every card and always defends perfectly.

The rules fit in three lines: follow the suit that was led if you can, the highest card of that suit wins the trick, and a trump beats any card that is not a trump. You tap a lit card to play it, and you can take a play back, start the deal again or give up. A line that falls short of the contract rewinds the board to trick one and counts as another try, so your result is the tries and the time you needed. Every deal is published only after a search proves that the contract can be made exactly, so a line that works against the defence is proved, not lucky.

The deck grows through the week, from four cards a hand on Monday to the full eight on Sunday, which is the same kind of puzzle at greater depth. A new deal arrives every day at midnight Eastern. No bridge knowledge or bidding is needed, though bridge players will recognise the finesses and squeezes involved.