turn up trumps

Idioms  

1. End well, succeed, as in Some brief courtships and hasty marriages turn up trumps. This expression alludes to card games in which trump cards are superior to cards of other suits. [Late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

But the difficulty with manipulating reality and civil lists thus is that scenarios can turn bad as well as turn up trumps.

From The Guardian • Aug. 25, 2012

King Edward, who looked remarkably like Clement Freud, was an unexpected smash hit, the cheering implication being that you-know-who may turn up trumps.

From The Guardian • Mar. 24, 2010

The thing may or may not turn up trumps, but in any case I have made an effort to spare a little money to buy some of the shares.

From A Very Naughty Girl by Meade, L. T.

I allers knowed Mr. Abel Newt would turn up trumps.

From Trumps by Curtis, George William

In another year or two I might have recovered myself—that devil of a woman might be dead—and I have several irons in the fire, some of which are sure to turn up trumps.

From Colonel Quaritch, V.C. A Tale of Country Life by Haggard, Henry Rider