It's elementary to say "flush the Queen." Most every player tries to do it, and it's always a good idea. If you can ensure that someone other than you gets 13 points, that's always a good idea.

Some players will stop trying to flush the Queen (of Spades, that is) once Hearts start coming out on Spades tricks. But, if you're playing four-handed, then you've got a 25% chance of taking the Queen over any reasonably large number of hands with equally-matched opponents. If you can flush the Queen even one of those times, that's just under three points you've saved yourself. So flush the Queen.

But, you may be saying, suppose I know I'll take 3 or more points flushing the Queen? Well, ask yourself where you are in that process. Once you've taken a point or two, those are a sunk cost -- you'll never untake them. Remove them from your calculus. Can you flush the Queen for less than 3 more points? If so, do it. If not, the odds may be in favor of you leading a low club or diamond (or faking the shoot with your high heart!

And, remember, you don't need to lead spades to get the Queen out -- you only need to lead spades to flush the Queen onto the player who holds it; there are two other players who can take the Queen besides you and the person who holds it, so don't be shy about flusing the Queen onto one of them instead.

The easiest way to do this is to lead low cards from a suit of which you've already played some tricks. Clubs is a great example of a suitable suit for this tactic -- you know that at least one trick of that suit has already been played, and a lot of players will try to pass so that they get void in that suit from the start. Playing a low club can give the Queen-holder the chance to throw the Queen that they've been planning for.