A Far Better Contract

9 8
Q 10
K J 9 5 4
K J 5 2
6 4 7 5
K 7 6 3 2 9 8 5 4
Q 7 6 2 A 10 8 3
9 6 8 7 3
A K Q J 10 3 2
A J
------ Contract: 7 spades
A Q 10 4 Opening lead: 9 of clubs

This is from Frank Stewart's column, but I guess a hand that illustrates a point is a hand that illustrates a point regardless where I find it. The declarer covered by Steward didn't make the hand, and the columnist pointed out how he could have:
Declarer wins the first trick with the ace, goes to 9 of trump, ruffs a diamond high, 8 of spades, ruffs a diamond, the queen of clubs to the king, ruff a diamond, 10 of clubs to the jack, ruff a diamond, and now four of clubs to the 5 and cash the king of diamonds, sluffing a heart.
This, yes, is makable. Did the hand occur? Or was it devised? I don't know, but the cards are remakably placed for all those leads to dummy. Declarer has to have two entries in trump (how likely is that when he has the top 5 in the closed hand?) and of course, find the ace of diamonds guarded no more than 3 times. Also the heart finesse has to be off or any novice could make the hand without cleverness. Stewart himself said rather casually that a 7 club bid "would be better," without making any reference to the balanced suit (commonly) working better than the unbalanced for just this reason.
The unbalanced suit as a side suit allows the sluff of a heart and subsequent ruff of the second round. What if clubs split 4-1? Well, you're not going to be very happy in 7 clubs, but you'll note that you can't make 7 spades either, since you're not going to find an entry to dummy with the five of clubs if the suit is splitting 4-1. On the other hand, 7 spades just might make on a simple finesse (though we can see it wouldn't here). Looks hokey to me.
In any event, I would like the reader to see how easy a 7 club contract would be for almost any declarer, as opposed to 7 spades -- how much less luck (not to mention declarer competence) you need in 7 clubs because of the value of naming a balanced suit trump when you have a choice. To be sure, 7 spades is the major suit . . . and . . . well, use your judgement.