The John H Watson Society
2014 Annual Worldwide Invitational Canonical Treasure Hunt
Submissions were all received by 1 September 2014 at 12 Noon US/EST.
buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com
Section I: Linked Topical Canonical Questions
1. Find and cite Holmes’s first occurrence of addressing Doctor Watson as “Watson.” Go
forward 17 pages and choose the fruit and the rodent mentioned
Answer: SIGN, p. 89; SIGN, p. 106; cherry and rat.
2. Reverse the rodent and substitute “urch” for the last letters of the fruit.
Answer: rat = tar; cherry becomes church.
3. Use one word in the answers to question #2 to get to another fruit.
Answer: church to apple: Church Row stop on way to Appledore Towers; CHAS p. 577.
4. Use the other word in the answer to question #2 to get to certain derivations?
Answer: tar to coal-tar derivatives; EMPT p. 488.
5. Watson found who in this same city of study referenced in the answer to question #4?
Answer: Marie Devine; Montpellier, France; LADY p. 944.
6. What is the common link between Watson’s objective in question #5 and Stepney?
Answer: the name “Devine;” the French sculpture in SIXN, p. 584.
7. With the quantity ‘half-dozen’ ‘four’most in your mind, cite the specific objects and where
they appear. Choose the object properly having six letters in the description.
Answer: The four groups of half-dozen items in the Canon consist of: 1) paper, SIGN, p. 96;
2) the household, BOSC, p. 203; 3) cases, YELL, p. 351; and 4) people, LAST, p. 971.
‘people’ has six letters.
8. Find the final appearance of the singular tense usage of the answer to question #7 and back
up to the third proper noun mentioned and cite.
Answer: The final appearance of the word ‘person’ (singular of ‘people’) occurs in RETI, p.
1120. The third proper noun prior to ‘people’ is “Broadmoor.”
9. Define the proper noun in question #8 and cite the stories where that definition appears.
Answer: Broadmoor was a criminal asylum and the word ‘asylum’ appears in: 1) COPP; 2)
DYIN; 3) DEVI; 4) BLAN.
10. Choose one of the above answers and cite. Reverse nine hundred pages and name the two
countries mentioned where the same malady as suspected in question #9 occurs:
Answer: BLAN, p. 1011. Nine hundred pages earlier we find SIGN, p. 111 where the two
countries, also with known leprosy, are mentioned: India and Senegambia.
11. Choose one of the possible answers to question #10 and cite the number of books and
stories with a direct or indirect reference or allusion to this country.
Answer: “India” or other India-related terms appear in fourteen of the books and stories:
STUD, CARD, CROO, SIGN, BRUC, NAVA, EMPT, FIVE, SPEC, VALL, 3STU, BOSC,
SECO, GREE.
12. Name the book or story with the third highest number of references to this country.
Answer: STUD (2 references). SIGN has 7 references; SPEC has 3 references; all others have
one reference.
13. From the name of the book or story with the second highest number of references in the
answer to question #12, back up to the fifth and sixth word from the reference and cite this
malady.
Answer: STUD, p. 15: reference 1: Bombay; reference 2: Indian. The fifth and sixth words
before “Indian” are “enteric fever” which Watson calls “. . . that curse of our Indian
possessions.”
14. Now take the other reference to the country on the cited page in question#13 and proceed
to the third and final appearance of it in the Canon and cite the book or story and page.
Answer: Bombay; SIGN, p. 97 “. . . Thirty-fourth Bombay Infantry . . .”
15. From the text adjacent to the answer to question #14, what other cases may have occurred
within six months prior to and twelve months after the date mentioned.
Answer: Date: 28 April 1882. Six months earlier was RESI; October 1881; one year later was
SPEC, April 1883.
16. Of the two possible cases cited in the answer to question #15, choose one with affinity for
the prior six questions and cite the number of occurrences of the primary reference in that
story.
Answer: SPEC with three references to “India” or related words.
17. In the story in the answer to question 16, from what year did the boards and panelling of
the third chamber date?
Answer: SPEC, p. 267 “. . . may have dated from the original building . . . .” See SPEC, p
259: “. . . and the two-hundred-year-old house . . . .” The case was 1883, minus two-hundred
years = circa 1683. The oak boards and panelling dated from circa 1683.
18. Fifty-nine years from the date of the answer to question #17, what would occur?
Answer: The dating and setting down of the legend of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Hugo
Baskerville; 1742.
19. How many other occurrences are there in the Canon for people with the given name of the
author of the answer to question #18? Cite the books or stories.
Answer: Three occurrences: VALL, BRUC; SHOS. All have a “Hugo.”
20. One of the books or stories in the answer to question #19 contains a reference to a given
name after a saint. What are the given name and surname of this person?
Answer: Valentine Walter. BRUC, p. 929.
21. The only other saint’s name with a “v” in it occurs in what book or story.
Answer: GREE, p. 441; St. Vitus; “. . . . a man with St. Vitus’s dance . . . .”
22. Who was the disruptive female from the theatre stage?
Answer: Miss Flora Millar, the danseuse at the Allegro Theatre; NOBL, p. 290.
23. Change the gender to male and the year to that following the Jubilee, and where does Dr
Watson find himself enduring a carriage drive of between six and eight miles?
Answer: Travelling the seven miles to Riding Thorpe Manor from the North Walsham station,
Norfolk; DANC, p. 517.
24. What are the common connections between the other two stories where the name of the
county in the answer to question #23 appears?
Answer: BLAC (Norfolk jacket) and GLOR (Norfolk); both are stories with sea and ship
connections.
25. From one of the common connections in the answer to question #24, find all such name
listings throughout the Canon and cite them alphabetically with the book or story where they
appear. Using only those having first letters the same, list the letters. Scramble the letters to
identify something that was carried on one of the common connections to question #24.
Answer: Alicia (THOR), Aurora (SIGN), Bass Rock (ABBE), Conqueror (CARD),
Esmeralda (SIGN), Friesland (NORW), Gloria Scott (GLOR), Hotspur (GLOR), LONE
STAR (FIVE), Matilda Briggs (SUSS), May Day (CARD), Norah Creina (RESI), Orontes
(STUD), Palmyra (VALL), Rock of Gibraltar (ABBE), Ruritania (ILLU), Sea Unicorn
(BLAC), Sophy Anderson (FIVE), yacht (BLAC).
Alicia & Aurora = A; Matilda Briggs & May Day = M; Rock of Gibraltar & Ruritania = R;
Sea Unicorn & Sophy Anderson = S
A + M + R + S = (scramble) ARMS = arms used in the mutiny aboard the Gloria Scott.
26. As with the uprising in the answer to #25, sure and this did wonders in another uprising.
Answer: CROO, p. 412; “The Royal Munsters is, as you know, one of the most famous Irish
regiments in the British Army. It did wonders both in the Crimea and the Mutiny, and has
since that time distinguished itself upon every possible occasion.”
27. The only county named from here in the Canon.
Answer: County Monaghan, Ireland; VALL p. 821.
28. Using the first three letters of the name in question #27, extend it by six letters and relate
the resulting object and its creator to regions of the Arabian Desert.
Answer: ‘Mon’ becomes ‘monograph,’ one of which was being written by Dr Schlessinger on
the kingdom of the Midianites, a nomadic tribe that lived in the northeastern region of the
Arabian Desert; LADY 944.
29. Take the first three letters of the people named in the answer to #28, expand and electrify
it, and in what case does Dr Watson find himself?
Answer: ‘Mid’ becomes expanded to ‘Midland Electric Company;’ SOLI, p. 529.
30. Pluralise the geographic descriptor in question #29 and cite the only appearance in the
Canon of this descriptive term for a large area of England.
Answer: ‘Midland’ becomes ‘Midlands’ and appears in STOC, p. 372.
31. This county town, among the many included in the answer of question #30, had a former
elected official whose wife incited curiosity by Holmes and Watson. Who? Where? What
book or story and page citation?
Answer: Gloucestershire in the Midlands has the county town Gloucester. The former mayor’s
wife is Mrs. Oldmore, about whom Holmes and Watson inquired at the Northumberland
Hotel; HOUN, p. 692.
32. Change two letters of the “Who?” answer in question #31 and cite the resulting identity of a
corpse. Who? What book or story.
Answer: Oldmore becomes Oldacre; NORW, p. 497.
33. Using the last four letters of the answer to question #32, add one letter and 250,000 of what
results and identify the individual in possession.
Answer: acre + s = acres. Two hundred and fifty thousand acres were owned by the Duke of
Holdernesse; PRIO, p. 539.
34. Six are contained in the answer to question #33. To reveal the six, remove five and cite the
six remaining and the book or story where five with those six are found.
Answer: ‘Holdernesse’ minus the five letters of ‘nesse’ = ‘Holder’ which contains six letters.
There are five Holders named in the Canon: Alexander Holder, BERY; Arthur Holder,
BERY; Mary Holder, BERY; Holder & Stevenson (bank); BERY; and John Holder, SIGN.
35. Choose the odd partner in one of the citations in the answer to question #34 and find a
new, second reference to one who has sufficient speed. Cite who, what and the book or story
and page.
Answer: The odd partner is Stevenson of Holder & Stevenson; another Stevenson is a rugby
player in MISS, p. 623 who is described as “Stevenson is fast enough, but he couldn’t drop
from the twenty-five line . . . .”
36. Reverse from the cited page in question # 35 to the last word in the previous story. Name
the three of these that are cited in four books or stories of the Canon. Name them and the
stories or books in which they are referenced.
Answer: The last word of GOLD is ‘Embassy’: named in the Canon are the Russian, NAVA
and GOLD; French, NAVA; and German, LAST embassies.
37. There are two words in the answer to question #36 that, when used together, describe a
Napoleonic windfall. What two words? What windfall? Which book or story and page?
Answer: GOLD + French = French gold; there were 2,000 gold napoleons packed in a wood
crate in the cellar of the bank in REDH, p. 187 awaiting a windfall robbery.
38. There are at least eleven of the criminal events described in question #37 referenced or
alluded to in the Canon. Which of these was known to involve a train? Cite the story, page
number and who was implicated.
Answer: The robbery in the train de-luxe to the Riviera on February 13, 1892; Count Negretto
Silvius; MAZA, p. 1018.
39. The year cited in the answer to question #38 is also the impossible year for what adventure
and why?
Answer: The train robbery was in 1892 and that is the year Dr Watson assigns to WIST.
However, this is not possible as Holmes was thought to be dead between May 1891 (FINA)
and March 1894 (EMPT).
40. Of the ten major national railroad termini cited in the Canon, one is cited more than any
others. Which one? Name the stories or books in which it appears.
Answer: Waterloo: HOUN, FIVE, SPEC, CROO, NAVA, SOLI
Note: Charing Cross appears in six stories, but Waterloo has more citations within the six
stories.
41. Which two major national railroad termini are only mentioned in one book or story?
Name the station and the book or story.
Answer: King’s Cross Station, MISS; Cannon Street Station, TWIS.
42. Who was to have been married, and in what book or story, near one of the stations in the
answer to question #41?
Answer: Mary Sutherland was to have been married at St. Saviour’s church near King’s Cross;
IDEN.
43. Connect ‘Church’ and ‘war’ and cite who and the book or story and page.
Answer: Holmes disguised as the old bibliophile with a little bookshop at the corner of Church
Street and a book for Dr Watson’s gap on the second shelf titled The Holy War; EMPT, p.
485.
44. Connect one of the elements of question #43 to a villa in Fiesole and cite the book or story
and page reference in the Canon.
Answer: STUD; p. 30. Gregson relates items found in Enoch Drebber’s pockets: “Pocket
edition of Boccaccio’s ‘Decameron.’ The frame of Decameron is a series of 100 stories told
over 10 days by 10 young men and women fleeing the Black Plague and staying in a deserted
villa in the countryside of Fiesole near Florence.
45. Holmes tells Watson about finding himself in the city near that in question #44 in what
book or story? Name the City and country and cite the page.
Answer: EMPT, p. 487. Holmes said he “. . . took to my heels, did ten miles over the
mountains in the darkness, and a week later found myself in Florence . . . .”
46. Turn back thirty-seven pages and cite the link to question #45 within the fourth line.
Answer: Italy.
47. Find labels from this same place and cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: 3GAB, p. 1027. The labels on the Douglas Maberley’s trunks. “ ‘ Milano,’ ‘Lucerne.’
These are from Italy.” ’
48. Name the two characters with surnames the same as the given name of the person who is
referred to in the answer to question #47. Cite the stories or books and the pages.
Answer: Douglas Maberley gives us “Douglas” as a given name. The two characters with
surnames of “Douglas” are Jack and Ivy Douglas; VALL, p. 774.
49. A vegetative shroud. Name the book or story and page.
Answer: Abbey Grange was “shrouded in ivy, . . . .” ABBE, p. 637.
50. Using the answer to question #49, drop the “r” and add an “s” and where are you?
Answer: Grange becomes Ganges, The Ganges River in India, where Small lost his leg to a
crocodile. SIGN, p. 144.
Section II: The Scholarship Canonical Questions
51. Ball wrote a compelling study of what? Cite the story or book and the title of Ball’s work.
Answer: The “twenty-three other deductions which would be of more interest to experts than
to you.” REIG. “The Twenty-Three Deductions” by John Ball, Jr.
52. Who spoke for Mrs. Hudson, defending her late husband, when writing: “My Hudson was
a respectable tradesman, I’d have you know, in a very small way in Peckham, and he died when
I was barely 25 years old.”
Answer: Miss Zasu Pitts in “Mrs. Hudson Speaks,” in the first Baker Street Journal.
53. Who wrote: “As an illustration of the vital importance of negative evidence this is almost
comparable with the classic and curious instance in ‘Silver Blaze’ of the dog that ‘did nothing in
the night-time.’ Cite the writer, the paper title, and the quote referred to as “this is the almost
comparable. . . ”
Answer: Written by Dr Felix Morley in “The Significance of the Second Stain” referring to the
quote by Holmes, “Only one important thing has happened in the last three days, and that is
that nothing has happened.” SECO.
54. Watson includes references to the works of Horace in the Canon. Who commented on the
disjecta membra as an adaptation of a phrase in Horace’s Satires (I, 4, line 62)? Name the
author and the paper and the book or story referred to.
Answer: Morris Rosenblum in “Some Latin Byways in the Canon.” BLUE
55. Who commented on the link between Craig’s Patch with Hobson’s Patch? Cite the author
and the paper.
Answer: James Montgomery in “Paging Birdy Edwards.” VALL.
56. Where was a copy of the Bouguereau painting, so admired by Thaddeus Sholto, displayed
for many years in New York. Who wrote of this and said, “Mr Sholto, as a man of refined
tastes, would have been grieved to know . . .”?
Answer: The painting, Nymphs and Faun was for many years the most famous barroom
painting in New York, at the old Huffman House on Fifth Avenue. Commented on by
Christopher Morley in Shelock Holmes and Dr.Watson: A Textbook of Friendship. SIGN.
57. Doctor Watson having a keen interest in hunting has been documented through analyses of
numerous Canonical passages in what scholarly work written by whom?
Answer: “ ‘No Mention of the Local Hunt, Watson’ ” by G. W. Welch.
58. What seminal work attributes the oscillation of Moriarty’s head to paralysis agitans tremor?
Name the article, the publication and the author.
Answer: “Watson’s Unspoken Diagnosis” by Robert Katz, MD, JHWS; The Watsonian Vol 2,
Number 1, April 2014.
59. Who was Patrick Nelson and how does he relate to the Canon? He is referenced on page
185 of what essential book on Holmes written by whom?
Answer: Nelson was a minor illustrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Noted in The Private
Life of Sherlock Holmes, by Vincent Starrett, Otto Penzler Books edition; paperback.
60. Brunton discusses a bibliographic variant of the first U.S. edition of The Hound of the
Baskervilles, identifying it for the first time as State 6.2 and citing the differences in type on the
title page, especially the letter ‘h’ in the word ‘Author’ and the numeral ‘9’ in the date 1902,
below. Where did this definitive and seminal paper appear and when, and who, precisely, is
Brunton?
Answer: This seminal bibliographic paper is titled “The Hound in America: Bibliographical
Comments on the First U.S. Edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Richard Brunton. It
appeared in the Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, 1999. Richard Brunton is none other
than our own JHWS Founding Director Professor Donald Pollock “Hound.”
Section III: Linked Canonical Questions (con’t)
61. Picking up from the answer to Question #50, once you have identified what the answer is,
disregard the name and focus on what it actually is, then name the country that has the largest
number of those referenced in the Canon.
Answer: River. There are twelve rivers named in the Canon. Five of the rivers are in the United
States.
62. One of the referenced number in question #61 has two words. What is the other two word
name (and what is it) five words away from its appearance in the text? Cite the names, the book
or story and the page.
Answer: The River is the Rio Grande in STUD, p. 56. The other name is Sierra Blanco found
in the same sentence; Sierra Blanco is a mountain.
63. Using an alternative name for one of the answers in question #62, link it to one named
Harriet and name the location in full. Cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: An alternative to ‘mountain’ is ‘mount.’ Mount Harriet is located on Blair Island in
the Andaman Islands. SIGN, p. 152.
64. If you drop the ‘l’ and the ‘r’ from one of the names in #63 and add an ‘n’, identify the
resulting reference and cite the book or story and page.
Answer: Blair becomes Bain. Sandy Bain was a jockey in SHOS, p. 1106.
65. Using the answer to question #64, count the number of words and letters and identify the
first letter of each word. Find the other occurrence in the Canon of the same number of words
and letters and the same first letters and cite the answer, the book or story and the page.
Answer: Sandy Bain has the same number of words and letters and first letters as Simon Bird;
VALL, p. 849.
66. With the answer to the second word in question #65, make the connection to Park Lane.
Answer: Watson was in Park Lane when he encountered the old book collector who later
offered him a copy of British Birds. EMPT, p. 485.
67. In addition to the answer to question #66, name the next choice offered and then name the
only other such authorial countryman to appear in the Canon. Cite all appearances.
Answer: The next choice by the old book collector was Catullis, a Roman poet. The only other
Roman author and poet in the Canon is Horace. STUD, p. 86 and IDEN, p. 201.
68. Proceed from the ancient city of question #67 to an adage of Arthur’s brother and relate.
Cite the story or book and the page.
Answer: “Rome was not built in a day.” Stated by Harry, Arthur’s supposed brother. STOC, p.
367.
69. With the surname in hand, proceed to an aunt and make the connection. Cite the book or
story and the page.
Answer: In question #68, we have Arthur and Harry Pinner. In YELL, p. 353, Mrs. Effie
Hebron returns from America to Middlesex, England where she lives with a maiden aunt in
Pinner.
70. Proceed to the only other reference to the county above and go forward 100 pages and
name the term Dr Watson uses to describe the person carrying the lantern. Cite the book or
story and the page.
Answer: The county in question #69 is Middlesex. It appears in TWIS, p. 237; forward 100
pages to SILV, p. 337. Doctor Watson describes Edith Baxter as a ‘maid.’ Effie Hebron’s aunt
was a ‘maiden.’
71. Consider the lantern. Which book or story uses the word ‘lantern’ the most? How many
references are there?
Answer: SIGN; seventeen references.
72. In one of the books or stories of the Canon, lantern light reveals an awful sight. Cite the
book or story and the page.
Answer: The death of Ronder and the mauling of Mrs. Ronder. VEIL, p. 1097.
73. This person supposedly went to one of the spectacles described in question # 72. Cite the
book or story and the page.
Answer: The circus; the imposter old crone’s daughter, Sally Dennis, supposedly went to the
circus and lost a ring; STUD, p. 39.
74. Shorten the name in the answer to question #73, and get to a knight of the 1700s. Cite who,
the book or story, and the page.
Answer: Sally Dennis becomes Denis; Sir Denis Falder’s grave is described in SHOS. p. 1110.
75. Using the first letter of the surname in question #74, double and add double “l” and double
‘t’ and some other letters and who do you have? Cite the book or story and page.
Answer: Falder = F + f + o + ll + i + o + tt = Ffolliott, Sir George; WIST p. 876.
76. Take the answer to # 75 and choose the other who is not a knight. Cite the name, book or
story and page.
Answer: George (there are four George’s and three of them are knights) = George Tregennis;
DEVI 956.
77. In the story referenced in question #76, a woodland retreat is described. Cite the name,
book or story, and page.
Answer: Beauchamp Arriance, the part-time retreat of Leon Sterndale; DEVI, p. 961.
78. These two transpositive Canonical names are both causative of Holmes’s recuperation and
Watson’s happiness.
Answer: Agra and Agar (Agra Treasure STUD; Dr Moore Agar DEVI). Dr Agar ordered
Holmes to rest, hence the causation of the trip to Cornwall; the Agra Treasure was lost, hence
Doctor Watson’s proposal to Mary Morstan, a causation of his marriage. Transpositive via the
“a” and the “r”.
79. Do the search. 79/9/6 = ?
Answer: Page 79, line 9, word 6 = ‘whipped.’ STUD, p. 79
80. Take the first syllable from the answer to #79, and find one who is as tough as this.
Answer: ‘whipped’ becomes ‘whip’ becomes ‘whipcord’ which is found in WIST, p. 882,
referring to Mr. Henderson. “He is either a foreigner or has lived long in the tropics, for he is
yellow and sapless, but tough as a whipcord.” A whipcord is a strong worsted fabric.
81. Proceed from the geography in the sentence containing the answer to question #80, and
arrive at Marlow’s description.
Answer: Marlow Bates described Mrs Gibson thus: “She was a creature of the tropics . . . .
Tropical by birth and tropical by nature.” THOR, p. 1057.
82. Scramble the speaker in the answer to question #81 and drop the final letter. With the
remaining, skip to India and name the city.
Answer: ‘Bates’ becomes ‘beats’ becomes ‘beat.’ Dr Roylott beat his native butler to death in
Calcutta, India. SPEC, p. 260.
83. His has the most common given name in the Canon.
Dr Leslie Armstrong’s butler John. John appears as a given name thirty-four times in the
Canon.
84. Being with friends that night, he returned at midnight. Who? Cite the book or story and
page.
Answer: John Mitton, valet to Eduardo Lucas, charged and released in the murder of Lucas.
SECO, p. 658.
85. This remains the undisputed and absolute last word in that matter.
Answer: ‘door’ is the last word of SECO, p. 666.
86. Add a ‘k’ and an ‘a’ to the answer to #85, remove one letter, and where are you and with
whom?
Answer: ‘door’ becomes ‘doorak’ becomes ‘dorak’ = Dorak. “Dorak—a curious name.
Slavonic, I imagine.” Mercer also writes: “Have visited the Commercial Road and seen Dorak.
Suave person, Bohemian, elderly. Keeps large general store.” CREE, p. 1078.
87. Interestingly, this is referenced or alluded to a dozen times in the Canon. What?
Answer: ‘Bohemia’ or ‘Bohemian.’
88. Only one reference (a thirteenth) to the answer in question # 87 is in French. Cite the
reference, the book or story and the page.
Answer: Watson skips over the pages of Henri Murger’s Vie de Bohème. STUD, pp. 39-40.
89. The train from Victoria brings Holmes and Watson to a place with allusional devices
marking the entrance. How does the son of the owner owe his life to William Camden and
Alianor? Name the devices and the circumstances which owe a nod to Camden.
Answer: William Camden first published in England the tale that Eleanor saved Edward's life at
Acre by sucking his wound. Alianor is Eleanor of Castille, spouse to King Edward I. The
allusional devices are a rebus of cheeses found in the tiles of the porch of Chequers, the home
of Robert Ferguson. The baby, Ferguson’s second son, was poisoned by Jacky; the mother,
Mrs Ferguson, sucked the poison from the baby’s neck a la Eleanor of Castille.
90. A white one of the pictured devices in the answer to question #89, is referenced where?
Cite the item, the book or story and the page.
Answer: A white cheese. BLAN, p. 1004. “. . . that ghastly face glimmering as white as cheese
in the darkness.”
Section IV: Fill in the Blanks
91. “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _ _.”
Answer: “The proper study of mankind is man, you know.” ---Watson STUD, p. 19.
92. “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.”
Answer: “I really cannot congratulate you.”
---Holmes SIGN, p. 157.
93. “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _?”
Answer: Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms?
--Holmes BOSC, p. 217.
94. “ ‘_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _.’ ”
Answer: “ ‘ The game is up. Hudson has told all. Flee for your life.’ “ ---Holmes GLOR, p.
380.
95. “_ _. _ _ _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _!”
Answer: “Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!” ---Dr Mortimer
HOUN, p 679.
Section V: Word Scrambles (rearrange the letters , order, spacing, and words to reveal the
answer)
96. yth ma gf eo ealaw mias tahey vres ehn
Answer: Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas, by Colonel Sebastian Moran. EMPT.
97. eht gob aris la erp lak cb of
Answer: Black Pearl of the Borgias. SIXN.
98. xsep dalo id aridibi
Answer: Radix pedis diaboli (Devil’s Foot Root) DEVI.
99. ynx lom pcn fob edc aos uit hou eze bed
Answer: “compound of the Busy Bee and Excelsior.” CREE
100. bna hcn eas eop rcl nu
Answer: Schoenbrunn Palace. LAST
Section VI: Questions about SIGN
101. In 1895, this consisted of the barrel and a matched insert; both had etched numbers.
Answer: A hypodermic syringe consisting of the barrel and ‘piston.’ SIGN, p. 89
102. These similar shaped objects to the answer of question 101 were made from a plant grown
in the islands of the Godavery Delta.
Answer: Indian Lunkah, a cheroot-like cigar. SIGN, p. 91.
103. At least two others were empty. What? Cite the text and the page.
Answer: Thaddeus Sholto’s house, of the first three houses on that terrace, was the only one
inhabited. “At last the cab drew up at the third house in a new terrace. None of the other
houses were inhabited . . . .” SIGN, p. 99.
104. While Thaddeus Sholto did not have cats (that we know of), he did have these
deconstructed feline benefits.
Answer: Two tiger skins.
105. Two Sikh troopers had, in the past, served under this Sikh military leader. Explain and
cite the battle and the Sikh army commander.
Answer: Sher Singh Attariwalla. “ . . . . Mahomet Singh and Abdullah Khan by name, both
old fighting men, who had borne arms against us at Chilian Wallah.” The Battle of Chilian
Wallah was led by Sher Singh Attariwalla who routed the British Army. SIGN, p. 147.
Section VII: Questions on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
106. Connect the Canadian Maritimes and William Penn to The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes. Cite the source.
Answer: Violet Hunter lost her position as governess to the Spence Munro family when he was
appointed to a position in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the Canadian Maritimes. William Penn was
the founder of Philadelphia where Alice Rucastle was ostensibly visiting. COPP, pp. 318 and
321.
107. The Oxford Dictionary defines this as a “self-important minor official.” Who is referred
to and who is speaking? What book or story and page?
Answer: Dr Grimesby Roylott, confronting Holmes: “Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-inoffice.” SPEC, p. 265.
108. An ale merchant loses a daughter and gains a son. Who are the daughter and son and
what story or book and page.
Answer: Neville St. Clair married the daughter of a brewer. TWIS, p. 233.
109. Two conclusions can be drawn from this seminal paragraph: 1) Watson was preferred as a
colleague; 2) Holmes absorbed the expenses of an adventure. What book or story, what page,
and cite the quote?
Answer: “It is really very good of you to come, Watson, “ said he. “It makes a considerable
difference to me, having someone with me on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always
either worthless or else biased. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall get the tickets.”
BOSC, p. 202.
110. Dublin is the home of the sotar rua. Connect it and the Latin Spem Successus Alit . Cite
the book or story, the context of the two, and the page reference.
Answer: The sotur rua is Irish for “red setter” referred to as ‘Irish-setter’ in REDH, p.180.
Spem Successus Alit is the motto of Clan Ross, the clan of Mr Duncan Ross, also REDH, p.
180. Both figure in the narrative of Jabez Wilson.
111. This is found between the Groom and the Grosvenor Buildings at Aston. Cite what and
relate it to a book or story and page.
Answer: In Tracy’s The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana, p. 146, Gross and Hankey’s is found
between the entries for Groom and Grosvenor Buildings. It is the Regent Street jeweller
mentioned in SCAN, p. 168.
112. Watson recycles this port. Cite the port, the book or story, the page.
Answer: The port of Pondicherry, first mentioned in SIGN and then in FIVE, p. 225.
113. Solve for the mathematic answer, then cite the relevance and the reference and the book
or story and page: 366 divided by 3.128 + (567 minus 318) = ?
Answer:
366 divided by 3.128 = 117
567 minus 318
= 249
Total 117 + 249
= 366
The total of 366 = “Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road – 249,” read Holmes. The two numbers
in Mr Breckinridge’s ledger added together. BLUE, p. 253.
Section VIII: Linked Canonical Questions (con’t.)
114. Return to the answer to question #90. The absence of colour echoes British-India and the
law of nations. Cite the context and the books or stories and pages.
Answer: ‘Whiteness’ becomes ‘white.’ Abel White was an Anglo-Indian planter in SIGN, p.
145; De Jure inter Gentes, Holmes’s book, was originally owned by Gulielmi Whyte, or
William Whyte (White); STUD, p. 38.
115. This Scots explorer wrote on Druids. Who? In what book or story does a reference
occur?
Answer: Winwood William Reade. SIGN, pp. 97 and 137.
116. Holmes remarks on this ferryman from Holland. Who? What book or story and page?
Answer: Holmes remarked that a hound would follow the scent of aniseed “from here to John
o’ Groats” at the farthest northern tip of Scotland. Jan de Groote settled there in 1496 from
Holland and operated a ferry to Orkney. MISS, p. 633.
117. Watson notices a diamond ring. Whose? From who was it obtained? Cite the book or
story and page.
Answer: “And the ring?” I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which sparkled upon his
finger.” Holmes was given the ring by the reigning family of Holland. IDEN, p. 191.
118. Connect the Second Boer War and a possible source of the diamond in question #117.
Cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: James Dodd says, “Then he was hit with a bullet from an elephant gun in the action
near Diamond Hill outside Pretoria.” The Boers were of Dutch descent. Pretoria had diamond
mines. The reigning family of Holland may have obtained the diamond given to Holmes from
Diamond Hill outside Pretoria where diamonds had been mined by the Dutch Afrikaans since
the early 1800s. BLAN, p. 1001.
119. Connect another valuable commodity to a bad dream of house design. What? Where?
Cite the book or story and page and make the connection.
Answer: Besides diamonds in South Africa, gold was an important and valuable commodity.
Watson writes: “The place had been built by a South African gold kind in the days of the great
boom, and the long, low house with the turrets at the corners, though an architectural
nightmare, was imposing in its size and solidity.” This is a description of Baron Gruner’s house
in ILLU, p. 996.
120. Another grand house features a small door near a memorial. Name the location, the
reference, the speaker, the memorial, and the book or story and page.
Answer: Another Baron, Baron Von Bork, says, “ . . . . and when you get that signal book
through the little door on the Duke of York’s steps . . . .” This refers to Waterloo Steps in
Westminster, descending from Carlton House Terrace which is adjoined by the German
Embassy, a grand building. At the top of the Duke of York’s steps stands the York Column
erected in 1833 in memory of George III’s second son, Frederick Augustus, Duke of York
(1763-1827). LAST, pp. 973, 974.
121. The memorial in the answer to question #120 has an echo back to the answer to question
#96. Explain the connection. Cite the book or story and page where this connection appears.
Answer: The connection is the middle name ‘Augustus’ of both the Duke of York and the
given name of the father of Colonel Sebastian Moran, Sir Augustus Moran, the author of The
Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas. EMPT, p. 494.
122. From the appearance of the common connection in the answer to question #121 go
forward 490 pages and quote the first, devastating sentence which, as yet, has not occurred, and
is not likely to ever occur.
Answer: “And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes!”
123. From the prophetic word in the answer to question #122, make a connection to a thirtynine year-old retiree.
Answer: ‘farewell’ appears in only two other stories: BOSC and BLAC. In the latter, Stanley
Hopkins reports that Capt. Peter Carey was born in ’45 and retired in 1884, thereby making
him a very young thirty-nine year-old retiree. BLAC, p. 560.
124. This other eponymous individual to the answer to question # 123 was abandoned
unconscious in favour the future wife of an electrician. Explain the connection and cite the
book or story and page.
Answer: The common name ‘Peter’ is the connection between Capt. Peter Carey and Peter
the groom in SOLI who is left unconscious while Violet Smith was pursued. The spurious
wedding revealed and the miscreants dealt justice, Violet Smith later wed Cyril Morton, of the
Westminster electrical firm of Morton & Kennedy. SOLI, pp 534 & 538.
125. This, one of the most significant historical locations in all of England, is not mentioned in
full anywhere in the Canon and is referred to only once, partially and in passing. Name the
location, and the book or story and page.
Answer: Westminster Abbey; referred to as ‘the Abbey’. SECO, p. 655.
126. This would date from 1451 to 1500. Cite the reference, the story and book and the page.
Answer: Holmes says: “So far as I can make out, it is nothing more exciting than an Abbey’s
accounts from the second half of the fifteenth century.” GOLD, p. 608.
127. From here at half three in the morning. Cite where, the book or story and the page.
Answer: From Stanley Hopkins at Abbey Grange, Marsham, Kent ‘3:30 A.M. ABBE, p. 636.
128. Located six miles from the coast of Kent. Cite the full reference, the book or story and
page.
Answer: The Goodwins or, properly, The Goodwin Sands, a dangerous line of shoals six miles
from the coast of Kent at the entrance of the Straight of Dover from the North Sea. FIVE, p.
229. Also, Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana, p. 141.
129. Seat of the intended of a lovely lady who ‘came out’ the prior year. Name the place, who,
and cite the book or story, page.
Answer: Dovercourt in Essex, seat of The Earl of Dovercourt, Lady Eva Blackwell’s intended.
“It is the Lady Eva Blackwell, the most beautiful débutante of last season.” CHAR, p. 573.
130. Ten past two. Explain; make the connection to question #129. Where? Cite the book or
story and the page.
Answer: A telegram from Elman, The Vicarage, dispatched at 2:10 from Little Purlington in
Essex. The connection is “Essex.”
131. Two people from this this village and parish took temporary rooms during the
celebration. Who? Where? What celebration. Cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: Hilton Cubitt of Riding Thorpe Manor, Norfolk and Mr Parker, the Vicar of the
parish. They stopped at a boardinghouse in Russell Square, London for the Jubilee. DANC,
p. 512.
132. At a similar establishment to that found in the answer to question #131, someone left at
8:00 to take a train. Who, what establishment, what book or story and page?
Answer: Enocch Drebber left Charpentier’s Boarding Establishment at eight o’clock to catch
the 9:15 train. STUD, p. 43.
133. Considering the answers to questions #131 and #132, this will complete the circle. Name
what and cite the book or story and page.
Answer: Both question 131 and 132 have ‘boardinghouse’ elements. This element is found at
Mrs. Warren’s house where rooms are let, thus completing the “Red Circle.” REDC, p. 901.
134. A Greek ‘respite from worry’ this also figures in the final form of the opera Turandot.
Name the reference and cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: Posilippo, near Naples, where Signora Lucca was born. The name is derived from the
Greek meaning “respite from worry.” It is also the home town of Franco Alfano, the Italian
composer and pianist who completed the opera Turandot. REDC, p. 911.
135. Connect “O beau pays de la Touraine” to the Canon and cite the connection, the book or
story and page.
Answer: The quoted is the virtuoso soprano pastorale sung by Marguerite de Valois, Queen of
Navarre, from the premiere of Les Huguenots, another opera mentioned in the Canon and
connecting to Turandot in question 134. HOUN, p. 766.
136. Using four letters from the royal title in the answer to question #135, remove three letters,
rearrange, and connect the remainder to knowledge Doctor Watson had to learn. Cite the
book or story.
Answer: N A V A R R E minus V R E = NARA = the old capitol of Japan where the Shoso-in
housed the applied art associated with the Emperor Shomu and Baron Gruner tested Doctor
Watson’s knowledge of Oriental art in ILLU.
Section IX: Linked Questions About Doctor Watson
137. Who has provided a reasoned answer to and a convincing replacement for the notorious
missing page of Watson’s letter to Holmes referenced in HOUN? Cite the scholar, the
publication and the title of the paper.
Answer: Prof. Don Yates, JHWS “Pal” and BSI “The Greek Interpreter.” Published in The
Watsonian, Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2014, pp. 124-133; “Stapleton Revisited.”
138. Perhaps nowhere in the Canon is Watson as openly a sensualist as well as a discerning
gentleman as in this narrative passage where ‘beauty,’ ‘admiration,’ and ‘criticism’ come
together to quickly draw a picture of a woman. Cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: During Watson’s first encounter with Laura Lyons. HOUN, p. 733. This is the only
use of ‘beauty,’ ‘admiration,’ and ‘criticism’ together in the same paragraph.
139. Begin with Doctor Watson’s description of a possible prosecutor of grave-robbing and
make a connection to Chaucer. Expound and cite the book or story and page
Answer: In HOUN, in “First Report of Doctor Watson,” he writes of Mr Frankland of Lafter
Hall who, it is rumoured, intends to prosecute Dr Mortimer for opening a grave without
consent of the next of kin. The name ‘Frankland’ derives from the Middle English name
‘Franklin’ and both are of English origin and form a status name for people who lived on a
piece of land and were under no obligation to pay rent for, or to work for, in lieu of rent. The
derivation is from the Anglo\Norman\French word "frank", meaning "free" with the Middle
English "land", land. Working backward from Watson then, we have Chaucer writing one of
the pilgrims, The Franklin, in The Canterbury Tales. HOUN, pp. 714-715.
140. From a book, Doctor Watson reads aloud a reference to this theory published in a
British medical journal. Cite the book, the theory, the journal and the Canonical book or story
and page. Who is the author?
Answer: Doctor Watson quotes from the Medical Directory , “Some Freaks of Atavism” a
paper published in Lancet, 1882 by James Mortimer, MRCS. The theory is ‘atavism’ or the
tendency to revert to ancestral type. HOUN, p. 671.
141. The keyword to the definition of the theory in question #140 appears twice in the Canon.
Choose one of those appearances and connect to the word that is found 40 words back. Cite
the book or story and the page.
Answer: The word is ‘ancestral’ appearing in HOUN, p. 762. The word appearing 40 words
before is ‘plot.’
142. Using the terminal word in the answer of question #141, choose a book or story where it
appears again linked to a dishonest lawyer.
Answer: ‘plot’ appears in 3GAR, p. 1044 and tangentially links to John Garrideb of Moorville,
Kansas, Counsellor at Law, the perpetrator of the scheme in 3GAR.
143. Choose letters from the surname in question #142 and substitute one rhyming letter.
Identify the occupation of the revealed person and cite the book or story and the page.
Answer: G A R R I D E B becomes R I D E R becomes R Y D E R who is James Ryder,
upper-attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. BLUE, p. 248.
144. Choose another establishment in the Canon as that found in the answer to question #143
where justice came late but at last. Name the establishment and the book or story and page.
Answer: The Hotel Escurial in Madrid, Spain where justice came to the Marquess of Montalva
and Signor Rulli, his secretary, who were murdered in their rooms. WIST, p. 887.
145. From the origination point found in the answer to question #144 to the place where a
check was cashed for fifty pounds, the distance is how many kilometres. Name the place
referenced and the book or story and page.
Answer: From Madrid to Montpellier, France is 939 km. A check was cashed for 50 pounds at
Crédit Lyonnais at Montpellier. LADY, p. 943.
146. Doctor Watson mistakes Holmes regarding these of Turkish origin. Name the book or
story and the mistaken meaning.
Answer: Holmes asks about Doctor Watson’s bath, “But why Turkish?” Doctor Watson
assumes he is asking about his boots and answers, “English . . . . I got them at Latimer’s in
Oxford Street.” LADY, p. 942.
147. Choose one of the Canonical references to the location given in the answer to question #
146 and link its appearance in the Canon to the same page as a previous answer in the
Treasure Hunt. Cite the story or book and page and the prior Treasure Hunt question.
Answer: ‘Oxford Street’ appears twelve times in the Canon. One is at the opening of GOLD,
p. 608. In the paragraph following, we find the “Abbey accounts” answer to question #126.
148. In addition to that mentioned in the answer to question #146, what merchant is it likely
that Holmes and Watson used for their supply of bibulations? Cite the merchant, the book or
story and the page.
Answer: Vamberry, the wine merchant. MUSG, p. 387.
149. Based on the causal evidence of Doctor Watson’s early exasperation found in the text just
prior to the answer to question #1, plus the answer to question #149 and the answer to question
#145, how far is it in kilometres from where the check was cashed to the origin of Doctor
Watson’s apparent chosen lunch beverage?
Answer: From Montpellier to Beaune, France is 454 km. Beaune is the city where Beaune
wine is produced. Doctor Watson refers to Beaune in SIGN, p. 89, and his exasperation with
Holmes perhaps attributed to the Beaune he drank with lunch.
150. You have arrived at the Final Treasure which, in addition to the name of the town and its
being Doctor Watson’s stated lunch choice, is known worldwide as this.
Final question: Beaune, STUD, p. 89 and possibly Watson’s early Canonical reason for
exasperation. It is known worldwide as Burgundy or Pinot Noir.
The Treasure Hunt has come full circle to an echo of question #1 and the final solution is
Doctor Watson’s Beaune, Burgundy or Pinot Noir. Your choice! Now, have a glass or two!
We hope you enjoyed this second annual romp through the Canon and related literature and
scholarship. We look forward to the results and the honours for our First World Invitational
Treasure Hunt.
Thank you very much indeed for your kind participation. We hope you had fun!
On behalf of all Members and our Directors, we extend our warmest regards and good wishes
to Watsonians worldwide.
The John H Watson Society
Don Libey
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