WEEKLY MAH JONGG

American Mah Jongg (2010 NMJL card). Continuing defense by the numbers.

1. Like Numbers with a quint? Call her dead.

2. She is doing Quints #1, but she didn't notice the color-coding. It's a one-suit hand, so she's dead.

3. Quints #1; 4D is hot.

4. Quints #3 has to be two suits, not one. Call her dead.

5. That's more like it; flowers are hot.

6. Quint of twos, kong of fours: that's not gonna fly.

7. Quints of twos and fours in two suits: also no good.

8. Quints of twos and fours in one suit, though, that's another story. Quints #1; 3B is hot.

9. No twos and fives, no twos and sixes, no twos and sevens, no twos and nines. Let's skip the rest of the possible two-set melds with a quint of twos, because if she makes any of them, she's dead.

10. Consec. #2 or 13579 #2. Hot tiles are 2C, 4D, 3C, and 5D.

11. No hand on the 2010 card matches this.

12. Ditto.

13. Ditto.

14. Ditto.

15. Consec. #6 must be concealed. Call her dead.

16. Ditto.

17. Consec. #3. Hot tiles are 4B and R.

18. What is she thinking? No matter; she's dead.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to sharp-eyed reader Raena Sherb!

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Question or comment about this column? I often miss something; maybe you'll be the first one to spot it! Please be gentle. Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board.

Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i.

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book in existence about the American game. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND get the official rulebook from the NMJL (see FAQ 3). Linda Fisher's website is the only website that describes American rules: http://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/.

© 2010 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.