1. Pass. There is no good reason to bid again over three notrump, despite your 5-5-2-1 distribution. Granting that such hands generally play better in a suit, the fact remains that you’ve told partner about your preference for suit play, and he has said he’s not interested.

2. Six notrump. This is a matter of simple arithmetic. Partner’s jump to two notrump announced 18 or 19 points, and you have 15. The combined total is 33 or 34 points, which means that bidding a slam is mandatory. Your three-club bid was designed to find out if partner had three-card support for spades, and now that he said he hasn’t, you have no reason to doubt that notrump is the best denomination.

3. Four diamonds. A slam is clearly imminent here also, but this time there is a good possibility that diamonds will prove a superior medium for the slam.

It is certainly reasonable to assume that partner has precisely two spades because of his failure to bid three spades at his last turn. He is therefore highly likely to have five diamonds for his bidding to date. If that is the case, he may find it easier to make six diamonds than six notrump.

Your four-diamond bid is, of course, forcing. If partner bids five diamonds over four, you plan to carry on to six.

4. Four clubs. This is a tough choice, but the odds favor suit play over notrump. There are two important differences between this hand and the first one.

Your distribution in the former case was 5-5-2-1; here it 6-5-1-1, which is decidedly less satisfactory for notrump purposes. Also, in the first hand you had nine high-card points, giving your side more than the 26 normally needed to make three notrump, while here you have only six points, leaving you a point or two short of 26. In terms of pure probabilities, game is more likely in one of your suits — where your distribution can play a role — than in notrump.

Tomorrow: The happenstance squeeze.