When I was young (not long ago) my father used to tell me bedtime stories. These stories were always about fairies, giants, witches and dwarfs. My father was a very good narrator and I always thought his stories very exciting. Once he told the story of the criss-cross dwarf, a very special dwarf (he was the only one of his kind) of about six inches tall.

He wore a pointed hat from which hung the four card symbols: clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. The criss-cross dwarf carried a little bag with sand and if he threw some of that sand over a pack of cards, a criss-cross squeeze developed in the deal. This was my favorite story and I therefore wanted to know what a criss-cross squeeze really was. My father said that according to legend a criss-cross squeeze looked something like this:

		♠	7
		♥	A
		♦	Q 2
		♣	-
♠	4			♠	-
♥	6 5 4			♥	K 3
♦	-			♦	K 3
♣	-			♣	-
		♠	A
		♥	Q 2
		♦	A
		♣	-

South plays the ♠A. East has to play a card but is not happy about that at all. Declarer cashes the ace of the suit in which East has bared the king. The other ace serves as an entry for the promoted queen.
Poor East is flattened as it were; the only other one who can do likewise is the great green giant of the forest. I took very well note of this and hoped one day I would be able to flatten someone in this fashion.

Many years passed, without the criss-cross dwarf making himself heard. I grew a little older, wiser and (according to some) cockier, and had stopped believing in fairies, giants, witches and dwarfs, let alone the criss-cross dwarf, a long time ago.
But then one day, Friday 8 November it was, this happened in the district's league competition for teams:

E/All		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	K 4 3
		♦	J 9 6 2
		♣	Q 3
♠	10 9 2			♠	K Q 8 7
♥	A Q 9 7			♥	10 8 5
♦	4 3			♦	A Q 7 5
♣	9 8 7 6			♣	J 2
		♠	J 3
		♥	J 6 2
		♦	K 10 8
		♣	A K 10 5 4

After East (my partner Simon ter Elst) had opened 1♦, South (Annelies Klein) became declarer in 3♣ (North was Rudi Seip).
I, West, led a diamond. East won with the ♦A, South playing the ♦10. East switched to a heart; South and I ducked, so dummy's ♥K won the trick. Declarer played a small diamond to the ♦8 and then drew trumps in four rounds; North and East both discarding a heart and a spade. Then he got out with a heart. I won with the ♥Q and cashed the ♥A, North and East both discarding a spade. This was left:

E/All		♠	A 6
		♥	-
		♦	J 9
		♣	-
♠	10 9 2			♠	K Q
♥	9			♥	-
♦	-			♦	Q 7
♣	-			♣	-
		♠	J 3
		♥	-
		♦	K
		♣	5

This was my chance, the criss-cross dwarf had struck! All I had to do was to play a heart, North would discard a spade and South would ruff. But East?? I glanced at my partner Simon, The-Man-I-Could-Flatten. He looked a bit pitiful so I decided to resist the temptation and played a spade. After all, Daddy had often told me not to flatten my friends... yet it somehow was a pity.
My first encounter with the criss-cross dwarf was not really a success therefore: probably he had sprinkled too little sand over the deal.
Apparently the criss-cross dwarf himself was not happy with his performance either since behold what happened three (!) days later at the club evening:

S/EW		♠	K 9 4 3
		♥	5
		♦	K J 7 3
		♣	A Q 4 3
♠	A J 10 2			♠	Q 8
♥	10			♥	K J 9 8 7 6 3 2
♦	10 9 2			♦	A
♣	J 10 9 8 5			♣	K 6
		♠	7 6 5
		♥	A Q 4
		♦	Q 8 6 5 4
		♣	7 2

NS, Kees Emshaus-Ferry Sülter, had not exactly been silent and had ended up in 3NT! My (irregular) partner West, Harrie Manders, led the ♣J, won in dummy with the ♣A. Next came a diamond which I had to win with the ♦A. I switched to a heart, South successfully finessing with the ♥Q. Declarer now cashed four diamonds, on which I discarded four hearts, West a club and a spade and North a spade. Declarer cashed the ♥A as well and then got off lead with the ♥4, which I won with the ♥9, West and North both throwing a club and a spade. This was the position:

S/EW		♠	K 9
		♥	-
		♦	-
		♣	Q 4
♠	A J			♠	Q 8
♥	-			♥	J
♦	-			♦	-
♣	10 9			♣	K
		♠	7 6 5
		♥	-
		♦	-
		♣	7

I cashed the ♥J, on which South and West both threw a spade. And North? Well, he threw a... errrrr....
Things like these are usually only to be seen in books: the dummy is flattened by the big green jungle giant!
There it is: one can play bridge for many years without ever coming across a criss-cross squeeze and now there were two in four days.
I believe in fairytales once again and if you do too, you are bound to face the work of the criss-cross dwarf!