I didn't really mind the feather, at least it was more noticeable. One that might have been a stretch was the lighter flint in the shag carpet in Deadly State of Mind. Even though some clues were a bit unlikely, they were still fun.

The contact lens in the trunk of Kennicut's car in "Death Lends a Hand" has to take the cake for me.

Worst use of a clue has to be that goofy ticking watch trick in "Last Salute to the Commodore".

The dopey 'cart before the horse' ending in 'Lady in Waiting'. One of the least clever endings.

My main problem with the contact lens is Columbo's line in the earlier scene - "You know what I wish? I wish the murderer knew about this."
It seems like someone with less than HALF of Brimmer's sense would have picked up on that, and not gone NEAR that car till what he considered a safe time (I know he was in a panic, but still...).

I agree with Irene on the flint thing....ur right Irene it IS worse than the feather...lol.....hadn't thought of that one....
and the contact lens in the trunk also was a bit much...though I find the episode itself very good....the early Brimmer's office scene between Culp and Falk, when Columbo brings Brimmer case notes is an excellent one IMO.

In the episode with Culp about the football team. When Columbo is at the travel agency, unnecessarily since he could just. Still, the way the director presents the first coo coo in the stadium press box would give a careful viewer a hint of how Columbo would get the murderer. I missed it but I am sure others did not.

Not a clue per se but the way the telephone seems to find Columbo ("Lieutenant? It's for you") at exactly the right time and place - in suspects' homes, other people's offices, etc.

Unless the man gives the police dept a minute-by-minute itinerary (and keeps it despite traffic delays etc) it's often times way too co-incidental.

lol...yes ..the telephone....has anyone else ever noticed...and it's cringe worthy...in a STictch in Crime....when Columbo calls MAC from Will Geer's room....he's on the phone for maybe 5 seconds but then recites what the person said on the phone....which is MUCH longer??
I can't remember verbatim...but go check it out for a laugh...

The observation about the phone calls is excellent. I never thought about it before. Even if Columbo did give them an hour by hour prediction of his whereabouts it would be very odd that the department would need him at the very moment he is at the locations.

I always thought Columbo was really lucky that Nora Chandler's husband in "Requiem for a Falling Star" was wearing his ring when she killed him and she didn't think about taking the ring off before she buried him. Otherwise his trick would not have worked.

I also thought the set-up in "Troubled Waters" resembled the one in "Death Lends a Hand" that has been mentioned. Danziger knew that Columbo already suspected him, and Columbo's line to him that finding the gloves would close the case should have made him suspicious.

It was also lucky for Columbo that the clock Galesko used in "Negative Reaction" did not have any numbers, Roman numerals, symbols, writing, etc. on it that could have shown the image had been reversed.

It wasn't uncommon for police detectives in the 70's to provide numbers for the locations they would be. Everyone pretty much was in the phone book and of course that was then the best way to urgently contact someone. However, I feel the phone calls are a trick that columbo likes to pull in order to get a reaction and show that he's looking into a case much deeper than simply snooping about.

Yes, I do agree entirely about the phone thing and Columbo's fortuitous presence at the suspects homes or work places.

I came to decide I liked Columbo on seeing the ending of Suitable For Framing because it's brilliant but the set up requires that Columbo is at Dale Kingston's home when he comes back from acquiring the pastels from (and murdering) Tracy O'Conner. Watching it is slightly uncomfortable because you get to see Columbo reach into the bag and touch the evidence in order to set up the ending. But that suggests he knew they were in their and what Dale Kingston was doing. It also suggests that he knows Dale may have committed another murder which is uncomfortable. Sometimes Columbo's insight does seem to suggest a degree of prescience that mean he has allowed further crimes to be committed because he wasn't quite able to prevent them.

I think when Columbo reached in to pull out the paintings, it was genuinely supposed to just be Columbo being the usual way he keeps pushing on things, as he said he was trying to learn more about the art world. Therefore, it would stand to reason that he wanted to see what Dale was bringing home. Shortly after, the call came in about the accident, he finds out she's an art student, puts two and two together that she was an accomplice, and then realizes that the returned paintings have his finger prints and finds a way to use it to his advantage. I don't feel that when Columbo reached in, he was supposed to have in mind that he's already setting up a trap. If that were the case, he would have got a warrant and returned two hours later with a search warrant.

I think grabbing for the paintings in the bag was part of his plan because something like that would otherwise be uncharacteristically rude behavior for Columbo. Normally he is "annoying" to the suspect but he is polite, the way he stuck his hands in that bag and tried to grab the paintings was very brutish. Not only was it extremely rude but he could have ruined the paintings, I think he would know that so wouldn't just grab them if he didn't suspect what they were and wanted to get his fingerprints on them.

But he didn't know when a safe time would be. He had to find that contact lens and get rid of it before the police searched and found it. They could have searched that night and then all would be lost. Sooner just seemed better. I know he's was in a panic isn't a small "but..." it's a very important point. Columbo planted a seed he couldn't ignore even if he expected it may be a trap.

The ending isn't really the "cart before the horse". It's that Peter has a great memory and is prepared to testify against his girlfriend as a witness. I expect he'll have to demonstrate that memory but he should have no trouble. It's not really an episode of logic as many of the best are some Columbo episodes, like this one, are episodes of emotion.