Every so often on Knightmare, a team's undoing lay in a crucial hint that they failed to follow, leading them to reject a vital clue object. The list includes Team 5 of Series 2 who did not "accept the challenge" by taking a gauntlet, and Team 1 of Series 8 who had the scroll clue 'Green for a girl...' and a green item before them, but left that item behind. Between those two examples there were the members of Team 2 of Series 6.
The team learned from a Level 2 clue scroll that "luck favours the amber gambler". This was pointing them towards the necklace on the clue table, made from witch amber (as it turned out - the other clue objects clearly weren't), but dungeoneer Sumayya did not pick it up. This left her with nothing viable to give the witch Heggatty later on, which in turn left her without the password needed to survive a Dreadnort meeting.

In July 2004, Sumayya a.k.a. pixie posted an explanation of her team's fatal oversight on the Knightmare.com Forum:

'I personally blame our demise on cultural ignorance...I mean, how were we supposed to know that was an amber necklace (seriuosly) [sic]? You see, we're from an asian background and the only jewellry we wear is GOLD! ;)

When we watched it on TV we saw that the amber necklace had been placed right on top of the scroll (hint, hint). Looking back in hindsight we should have really read the clue properly as it was right infront of us, although, I don't know how much difference it would have made as I think we were just expecting to find it in pure form (as a stone and not as an item of jewelry). :|'

While ultimately of great significance to Sumayya and friends, 'amber gambler' is wordplay which existed before Knightmare: in 1977, a short Public Information Film showed a driver taking risks at amber traffic lights, and viewers were urged not to be amber gamblers themselves, lest luck did not favour them.

[Earlier version: 2010-02-21 21:06:02]

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