Re: The bridge player's frequent errors, although frustrating for his part
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03 Feb 2025, 06:17
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
An obstacle to, a hurdle for.
The blank in this sentence is describing the bridge player's errors and the effect that they had on his defeat. These errors are "frustrating for his partner," but his competitors were unable to determine "what cards he likely held" or "how to block his plays." These two clues suggest that the bridge player was doing something helpful for himself or his team, thereby preventing defeat. The best pair of words, then, is "an obstacle to" and "a hurdle for," suggesting that the errors prevented his (immediate) defeat. The other four options all give opposite meaning to this sentence, though in different degrees of certainty. "An insurance against" and "the guarantee of" would indicate that defeat was imminent, while "the reason for" and "an indication of" would suggest it was likely.