['The Amazing Race' - 'I Want to Be in the Circus, That's Where I Belong']

No clowning around here, it's high time to change this show's Sunday night time-slot to another night where it won't constantly be delayed by football! Here on the East Coast the show was delayed by more than an hour. DVRs get confused and writers get antsy.

It could be worse. We could be David Caruso fans.

Tonight's episode of 'The Amazing Race' was perplexing and not just because of the delay. Sure, it was entertaining. Don't get me wrong. It's never not entertaining. Read on for the skinny!

To get the perplexing bits out of the way first ...

1. Read the clues. Follow the clues. That can't be stressed enough, season to season, leg to leg. Michael and Kevin, this is specifically directed at you. Chad and Stephanie also need to learn the lesson. However, since Chad is so irksome, it might be best they don't read the clues!

2. Um ... speed bump? Nick and Vicki were saved in the non-elimination leg last week. They faced no extra challenge? Perhaps there was one and it just didn't get air time. But there should have been some reference to it. If there was no speed bump at all, we deserve to know why. Paging Phil Keoghan! What's up with that?

Now that those bits are out of the way, we'll get into the action. The teams didn't make it out of Russia this week, but it was all worthwhile solely for the circus Detour choices. The teams had a choice between balancing spinning plates or learning a traditional song on accordions. Both tasks were challenging enough, but add annoying clown chaos and it makes things all that more difficult.

Nat and Kat are definitely more cerebral players than most. They went for the accordions and immediately decided to code the finger moves. While Chad and Stephanie later decided to do the same, it wasn't done as quickly into things as they had attempted plates first. Most of the teams opted for the plate spinning, giving Nick his first opportunity of the evening to yell out, "Dumbass!" In either task, the teams had to wear huge clown noses. Gary couldn't see his accordion keys around his nose.

Then came disaster. With directions reading that the mystery continues, the teams had specific directions that they could neither take a taxi nor pay one to lead them to the next clue. They could ask locals for directions. This was the beginning of the end for Kevin and Michael. They took a taxi. Brook and Claire were following them, also in a taxi, but realized their mistake. They headed back and went on foot, but couldn't give the father and son team a heads' up.

Even though the one task for a clue was something they've done before on the show -- going up high and spotting a clue to the next destination -- it had a new twist. Instead of looking about the ground from the tower, there was a small model of the building right up there on a ledge. No one noticed it right away. Alas, it gave Chad more reason to berate his perceived-to-be-lesser partner, Stephanie. I was quite shock dumb as a box of rocks Nick noticed it so quickly and even thought to lie to other teams.

Then came the Roadblock -- Gorodki, basically throwing a bat at stacked pieces of wood to knock them all out of the set perimeter. It really didn't look that difficult. You'd think someone would get the hang of the bat throw after a few tries. Michael did horrible. Of course, this was with us knowing they'd face a penalty for the cab snafu.

Wrong -- they had two penalties. One was for having a taxi lead them, the other for taking a cab. Chad and Stephanie, vying for that next-to-last place against Michael and Kevin, had to run back for their bags, then face their own single penalty for taking a taxi. Clues, folks, clues. Read 'em or weep. Goodbye, Michael and Kevin. Hopefully Chad and Stephanie will follow you soon.

Nat and Kat's early lead continued through the leg, once again garnering them a first place finish. Gary and Mallory continue to surprise me, as do Nick and Vicki. I didn't think either of them would still be in it. Brook and Claire grow on me more each week. I'm getting a kick out of the "kiss count" and they're generally upbeat about things. This season could very well give us our first winning female team. As long as Chad and Stephanie don't win, I'll be happy.

'The Amazing Race' airs Sundays at 8PM ET on CBS.