Open the foundation that can take your blocked cards.
Intrigue and its relatives use two decks. Eight Queens anchor tableau columns. Eight foundations descend 5–4–3–2–Ace–King; eight climb 6–7–8–9–10–Jack. The remaining cards enter these foundations from exposed column tops, with a Queen-only column available for temporary parking.
Last updated: September 2026
Find a starter before its followers clog a column
A 4 cannot join a descending foundation until a 5 has started it; a 7 needs a foundation started by 6. Check the buried 5s and 6s, then find which exposed tops must leave to reach them. A Queen-only column can hold one blocker while you uncover a starter, but using it without a useful reveal removes that temporary space.
If a 5 sits beneath a top 9, moving the 9 to a Queen-only column exposes the 5. Starting a descending foundation may then make other exposed 4s playable. The 9 can leave once an ascending foundation reaches 8. This is an access sequence, not a guarantee that every deal can be cleared.
Differences within the family
- Intrigue: a 5 or 6 may start the corresponding empty foundation regardless of suit, including during the deal.
- Glencoe: a starter must match the suit of its foundation’s Queen column. Later cards ignore suit.
- Laggard Lady: the deal limits how many foundations may start relative to Queens already showing. That limit ends after the deal.
All three have a full deal and no stock afterward. The shared decision is how to uncover blocked ranks. Which starter is legal depends on the variant.