Looking embarrassed, being wrong about hard misleading clue

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to:

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Red \Red\, a. [Compar. Redder (-d?r); superl. Reddest .] [OE. red, reed, AS. re['a]d, re['o]d; akin to OS. r[=o]d, OFries. r[=a]d, D. rood, G. roht, rot, OHG. r[=o]t, Dan. & Sw. r["o]d, Icel. rau[eth]r, rj[=o eth]r, Goth. r['a]uds, W. rhudd, ...

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Word definitions in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
noun EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS ▪ According to Mattel, antitrust issues were a red herring . ▪ Meg's determination not to see her; her red herring about the mysterious proposal of marriage.

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color [syn: smoked herring ] a first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus; ...

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 A smoke-cured and salt-brined herring strong enough to turn the flesh red; a type of kipper. 2 (context figuratively English) A clue or information that is or is intended to be misleading, that diverts attention from a question.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"smoked herring" early 15c. (they turn red when cured), as opposed to white herring "fresh herring." Supposedly used by fugitives to put bloodhounds off their scent (1680s), hence metaphoric sense (1864) of "something used to divert attention from the basic ...