[barmar]

pescetom, on 2026-January-13, 15:19, said:

Not as I read it.

Now I see I misread it.

It would be so much easier if the OP had used a hand diagram instead of describing the auction in text.

[mycroft]

"Oh, I don't know, I think,..."

"Please don't guess. If you are sure, please tell us."

It might be rude, but explainer has already given serious UI, and is about to give more.

I guess I could wait for them to finish and call the director to protect me, but isn't that even ruder/bridge lawyerly?

[Coelacanth]

---

In ACBL (regulations in other jurisdictions obviously vary):

If your 3♦ bid here shows ♥ in your hand, partner should announce "Hearts". If it simply asks partner to bid 3♥ without reference to the number of ♥ in your hand, partner should Alert. Indeed, any meaning other than natural ♦ is Alertable.

In common parlance, 3♦ asking partner to bid 3♥ because you want to play in ♥, is a transfer. If you want partner to bid 3♥ because you're planning some other future action, that's a relay. Neither of these terms has any "official" definition in either the Laws or the ACBL Alert Procedure.

[blackshoe]

From The Bridge World Dictionary:

marionette
(1) (noun) a transfer (meaning 2), after which partner will usually make the cheapest bid but is permitted to bid higher with special hands. (Compare with puppet.)
(2) (verb) to use a marionette (meaning 1)
puppet
(1) (noun) transfer (meaning 2) [= a call that asks partner to make a certain call regardless of his holding]
(2) (verb) to use a puppet (meaning 1)
relay
(1) (noun) an artificial call, very often the cheapest bid, possibly nondescriptive or at most partially descriptive, that asks or allows partner to offer a description
(2) (verb) to use a relay (meaning 1)
(3) (adjective for system) a bidding method in which a high proportion of constructive auctions make use of relays

Examples of meaning (1) (the lettered calls are relays):

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1 NT Pass 2 ♣(a)
(a) Stayman; asks opener for information without directly describing responder's hand. Some relays are more descriptive than others; for example, a two-diamond response to one-notrump might be game-forcing Stayman.

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1 NT Pass 2 ♦* Pass
2 ♥(b)
*transfer to hearts (Jacoby transfer)
(b) completion of transfer; says little (in some contexts nothing) about the South hand

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1 NT Pass 4 ♦* Pass
4 ♥©
*puppet to four hearts (Texas transfer)
© completion of transfer; says nothing about the South hand
Similarly, the expected reply to any puppet acts as a relay.

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
2 ♣ Pass 2 ♦ Pass
2 ♥* Pass 2 ♠(d)
*Birthright: either hearts or a game-going balanced hand
(d) relay enabling opener to clarify hand-type (by bidding either two notrump if balanced or higher with hearts)
transfer
(1) (noun) a bid that shows length in a different suit
(2) (noun) a call that asks partner to make a certain call regardless of his holding; [In this usage, also called Puppet.]
(3) (verb) to use a transfer (meaning 1)
(4) (verb) to remove protection in a suit from one opponent and give it to the other
(5) (adjective) a squeeze involving a transfer (meaning 4)