Two card Fitch Cheney Rusduck

Instead of the three card Magnificent Sevens (or eights) trick that I created I'm going to try a two card method that relies on pointer cards in about 1/2 of the deck and non-pointer cards in the other half and a special clear clip (card placement within the clip sends additional information to the assistant).

The clear clip backside is about an eighth of an inch taller. That way when the two cards are placed into the clip the assistant will know which is the front and which is the back of the two card group. This is not part of the binary signal itself but just a way to know the suit (based on the two cards).

The deck is composed of two "halves".
The first half is composed of all pointer cards and normally (when USPCC deck is in use) will have the queen of hearts, the jack of spades, and King of Diamonds. The other half will have the non-pointer cards.

With the assistant out of the room the Magician cuts the deck into two piles and has a spectator select any two cards from the pointer half. These two cards will have a clear clip placed on the bottom and sent to the assistant.

But first the spectator selects a target card from the non-pointer half deck and set aside.

The magician arranges the two cards in a special way and always puts the clear clip on the bottom of the two cards together and has the spectator take the two cards in the clip to the assistant from which the assistant reveals the target card.

How is this done:
Let's call the two signal cards (pointer cards) card A and card B.

The magician will orient card A up for the binary value of "1". The Magician will orient card B up for the binary value of "2". The magician will slide the two cards 1/16 of an inch to the right in the clip for the binary value of "4". By adding these three signals this will allow the construction of eight values (0 thru 7).

Interpreted binary value to card value:
0 = 10
1 = Jack
2 = 2
3 = Queen
4 = 4
5 = King
6 = 6
7 = 7
The above should be memorized by the magician and mentally guide in the orientation of the two cards and their position within the clear clip.

The assistant should have the above memorized or on a little crib sheet. And know how to interpret the two cards in the clip.

Permanently remove the following 5 diamond cards from the deck: Ace, three, five, eight, nine. Note that the other suits these 5 cards would be pointers but not for the diamonds and they don't fit either half of the deck. I threw the six of diamonds back into the target group just because I could (the other 3 sixes are in the pointer group).

Target card suits:
If the target card is diamonds then the magician will place card A and card B face-to-face and place them in the clip.

If the target card is hearts then the magician will place card A and card B back to back and place them in the clip.

If the target card is clubs then the magician will have card A and card B both facing backwards in the clip.

If the target card is spades then the magician will have card A and card B both facing forwards in the clip.

Just to be clear, the target half will have (but will be shuffled):
Spades: 2, 4, 7, 10, Queen, King.
Hearts: 2, 4, 7, 10, Jack, King.
Clubs: 2, 4, 10, Jack, Queen, King.
Diamonds: 2, 4, 6, 10, Jack, Queen.
Total 24 cards.

The pointer half will have (but will be shuffled):
Spades: Ace, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, Jack.
Hearts: Ace, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, Queen.
Clubs: Ace, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Diamonds: 7, King.
Total 23 cards.

Actually if using USPCC standard cards then the court cards could go into either group if you and your assistant have memorized the pointer characteristics of the court cards.

Any or all of the sevens can go in either group and not cause any problems in mental calculations. I deliberately put two of the sevens in the target half just to make a better looking spread.

The 6S, 6H, 6C could go in either group and not cause any problems with mental calculations.

At the beginning of the trick the magician sends the assistant into another room and then using the deck of 47 cards: false shuffles and false cuts and then splits it into the two appropriate halves and proceeds from there.

Magician has a spectator select any two cards from the pointer half and then has a spectator select any card from the target half etc.

Note that this scheme does NOT place the cards sideways on the clip because that would be way too obvious. The clip always goes on the bottom of the two vertical cards. Turning one card sideways and one vertical is another approach but that seems very obvious.

If you do not have the pointer knowledge about the USPCC court cards then you can just have all the court cards in the target half. Same is true for a non USPCC court card deck.

You could remove any Jacks from the target half and put some aces in the target half and change the algorithm from 1 = Jack to 1 = Ace. Or even mix a little by having 1 = Ace only when spades or hearts otherwise 1 = Jack. But I prefer to keep it simple.

You could also remove any Queens from the target half and replace them with some eights and change the formula from 3 = Queen to 3 = 8.

Actually this trick could be done with just a regular paper clip on the bottom of the two cards with the short side of the clip on the front of the cards. We could use the relative value of the card closest to the front to designate the binary value of 4 If it is the higher value of the two cards.

We could eliminate the clip entirely by using the spectator's thumb instead:
Before starting the trick the magician says the following:

"Later I'm going to give you two cards to hold with your thumb at the bottom of those two cards and you will take the two cards to my assistant".

By saying the above phrase the spectator will expect that the use of their thumb is normal and is not an extra signal. Note that even though the use of their thumb is not a direct signal it allows the other signals to exist.