La Belle Lucie

Alexander the Great, Clover Leaf, Fair Lucy, The Fan, Midnight Oil, Three Shuffles and a Draw

For 1 Player - Level: Moderate

This is one of the most delightful solitaire games.

Layout: Lay out the whole pack in sets of three, face up.

One single card will be left over, which becomes a set of its own.

The only cards that may be moved are the exposed ones on top of the sets. They are built up on the foundations or on the top cards of other sets, by suit, building downwards.

To win the game: Release the Aces, and build them up in suit to Kings.

Play: Once you have the cards laid out, move the Aces that are available onto the foundations. In the example above, the Ace of Hearts is available for one of the foundations; so are the 2 and 3 of Hearts. Then proceed to build on the top cards of the fans, one card at a time. When a fan is entirely eliminated, it is not replaced.

Redeals: Two. To redeal, gather up the fans, shuffle the cards, and set them down in groups of three as before. Any left-over cards are sets by themselves.

Special bonus: In the last redeal, when you're stuck, you get one free move - one card you can pull from underneath one or two others, and play in any way you want.

Shamrocks

Three-card Fan

Play exactly the same way as La Belle Lucie, except:

1. If a King is on the top of a set, and a card of lower rank in the same suit lies under it, you can put the King under that card.

2. No fan may contain more than three cards.

Super Flower Garden

Play exactly the same way as La Belle Lucie, except that building takes place regardless of suit.

Trefoil

Les Fleurons

Play exactly the same way as La Belle Lucie, except that you put the Aces in a foundation row, before laying out the fans. You'll then have 16 complete fans.

From '101 Favourite Card Games for One'.
© 1992 Sheila Anne Barry.