Mr. Pruitt has arranged a class spelling bee, which turns into a showdown between Sam and her academic rival Amanda. But after Sam has an allergic reaction to coconuts, David has to fill in for her. Wishbone imagines himself in Ivanhoe by Walter Scott.
Two tie-in books were released — Wishbone Classics #12: Ivanhoe, featuring a less compressed adaptation of the original story with comments by Wishbone rather than the modern-day segments; and The Adventures of Wishbone #20: Ivanhound, a straight adaptation of the episode.
Tropes
- Academic Alpha Bitch: Downplayed with Amanda, who heads the rival team in the spelling bee. While she spends most of the episode being smug and catty, when David does secure the win, she's a good sport about it.
- Adaptation Title Change: While the episode is titled "Sniffing the Gauntlet," the novelization (from the The Adventures of Wishbone book series) is instead titled "Ivanhound".
- Adapted Out: The Ivanhoe adaptation doesn't include Robin Hood, but he did later get his own episode.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Isaac and Rebecca are never actually mentioned to be Jewish, with Wishbone's narration only explaining that they are "outcasts among the English."
- Demoted to Extra: Cedric's party includes a woman wearing a blue dress and a hennin. Presumably, she would be Lady Rowena, but she's never identified as such or given any importance whatsoever.
- Infodump: At start of the Ivanhoe adaptation, Wishbone's narration spends some time explaining who everyone is and putting the historical context into understandable kid terms.
- Plot Allergy: Sam is allergic to coconuts, and after she eats a protein bar that happens to contain coconuts, she becomes too ill to go to school on the final day of the spelling bee.
- Spelling Bee: Mr. Pruitt arranges one. The class is divided into two teams, one captained by Sam and the other by Amanda.
