Take sides!

The North–South pair ended up in a very poor contract. As is often the case, each player thinks their partner is to blame for the mishap. What do you think?

Problem 1

The facts:

An unexpected mishap: our two young friends missed their nine-card Heart fit and went down in 4♠, unable to avoid losing two trump tricks when the suit broke 4–2.
Who’s to blame?

The arguments

North: “I can’t bid 2♥: a two-over-one in response to an overcall is not forcing. So I’m forced to make a cue-bid of 2♦. I was planning to show my Hearts in a forcing situation after a likely 2♠ rebid. When you jumped to 4♠, which was rather surprising, I wasn’t unhappy with my hand—especially my doubleton Queen of Spades.”

South: “I don’t know which version of the SEF you’ve been reading, but it’s been outdated for a long time. A two-over-one change of suit in response to an overcall is forcing for one round. The cue-bid is used when there’s no satisfactory natural bid; by inference, it shows Spade support and at least 11 HCP, somewhat like a 2NT response to a 1♠ opening, but with no upper limit. If you simply bid 2♥, we’ll have no problem reaching 4♥.”