Quiz Results: Tuscan Luxury

Enrico Solito (“Devon”) sent us a very tricky quiz question indeed, with the only correct answer coming from the team of Sheila Holtgrieve (“Daisy”) and Margie Deck (“Mopsy”), who wrote:

Engraved portrait of Giovanni Boccaccio by Raffaello Sanzio Morghen (1822)

The Tuscan is Giovanni Boccaccio.  He famous book, the Decameron, was found amongst Enoch J. Drebber’s pocket contents in the house at Lauriston Gardens (STUD, p. 30).  It was found with the luxury items of a gold watch by Barraud of London, a heavy gold chain, a gold ring, a gold pin with rubies in the bull dog’s head, and a Russian leather card case.  Wow—this man had some bucks!

Also, the history of the Decameron plus some story threads in the individual stories may have some relation to/similarity with A Thousand and One Nights. mentioned in NOBL, p. 296 in connection with the luxuries of the “epicurean little cold supper” that Holmes ordered.

Honourable Mention goes to Robert Perret (“Sampson”), who suggested:

Do you perhaps refer to Goldini, the proprietor of a garish restaurant in BRUC? I understand his cigars, likely the famous Toscanos, are less poisonous than one might expect.

Well done, all three of you, and thank you again, “Devon”!

If you’ve been bitten by the bug to create your own Canonical Quiz, send questions (and answers, please!) to Selena.

A Quiz – and a New Book! – from Italy

This week’s quiz question comes from Enrico Solito (JHWS “Devon”), who asks:

Who is the Tuscan connected with luxury in the Canon?

For full marks, name the Tuscan and explain the Canonical connection. Send your answers by email to the JHWS Quizmaster by March 26.

We’re also pleased to announce that our “Devon” is among the contributors to His Everlasting Bow: Italian Studies in Sherlock Holmes, edited by Alessandra Calanchi (JHWS “Bianca”) and Stephen Knight, published by Aras Edizioni.

The description from the publisher sounds most intriguing:

Are Sherlock Holmes studies outdone? Has everything already been said and written about Baker Street, the Baskervilles, and the like? This volume answers these questions and dispels any doubts on the matter by presenting some of the most recent and original Italian scholarship focussing on the Sacred Canon and its long-lasting legacy in the international arena. From coding strategies to collecting Sherlockiana, from war(s) in Afghanistan to literary tourism, from the TV series of the 1960s to today’s tweets, His Everlasting Bow marks the state-of-art studies in the field and opens new fascinating trajectories of interpretation and research. The contribution of eminent scholars is matched by some outstanding pastiches and the experimental work of a group of young researchers.
Professor Stephen Knight’s foreword is simply the icing on the cake. And a treat is in store for the Sherlock Holmes Society of Italy Uno Studio in Holmes, as this volume is intended as a gift on the occasion of its 30th birthday (Florence 1987). His Everlasting Bow is also dedicated to the memory of Nando Gazzolo (1928-2015), the only Italian actor who has ever interpreted the Great Detective.

Contributors (in order of appearance): Valerio Viviani, Gabriele Mazzoni, Caterina Marrone, Enrico Solito, Stella Mattioli, Enrico and Fabio Petrella, Alessandra Calanchi and Nando Gazzolo, Marco Grassi, Luca Sartori, Gian Italo Bischi, Raniero Bastianelli, Matteo Bischi, Ruben Costa, Luisa Fanucci, Elena Garbugli, Adele Guerra, Francesca Secci, Stefano Serafini.

Test Your Canonical Knowledge

Sherlockian author Tim Symonds let us know about a Canonical quiz he composed over at Education Quizzes: Fictional Characters – Sherlock Holmes. (Wait a second…. What’s this fictional business?!) I scored 100%, but the best part is the additional information revealed once you submit your answer to each question.

Tim Symonds is author of five novels about Holmes and Watson. The most recent is Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil. (A review will be posted later this week, so watch this space!)

It’s the year 1906. Rumours abound that a deadly plot is hatching – not in the fog-ridden back-alleys of London’s Limehouse district or the sinister Devon moors of the Hound of the Baskervilles but in faraway Peking. Holmes’s task – discover whether such a plot exists and if so, foil it.

China’s fate and the interests of Britain’s Empire in the Orient could be at stake.

Holmes and Watson take up the mission with their customary confidence – until they find they are no longer in the familiar landscapes of Edwardian England. Instead, they tumble into the Alice In Wonderland world of the Forbidden City in Peking.

Quiz Results: Like an Animal

RESULTS: In order of submission, 5/5 to:

  • Margie Deck, “Gwen”, and Sheila Holtgrieve, “Daisy”
  • Michael Ellis, “Lobo”

Well done, everyone!

And, of course, the ANSWERS:

  1. Who is it?
    • Baron Adelbert Gruner
  2. What are the animals?
    • A Cat: “A purring cat who thinks he sees prospective mice” and “He’s a precise, tidy cat of a man in many of his ways.”
    • A Cobra: “He is an excellent antagonist, cool as ice, silky voiced and soothing as one of your fashionable consultants, and poisonous as a cobra.”
    • An Insect: “The Baron has little waxed tips of hair under his nose, like the short antennae of an insect.”
  3. In which story does the person appear?
    • “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client”

Quiz: Like an Animal

This week’s Quiz is a single question, submitted by Enrico Solito, JHWS “Devon”

Animals are important in the Canon. In four different sentences, one person is described with similarities to three different animals. Who is it, what are the animals, and in which story does the person appear?

Submit your answers for a total of 5 possible points (1 person, 3 animals, 1 story) by email to Selena by Sunday, October 23.

If you’ve been bitten by the bug to create your own Canonical Quiz, don’t forget you can send your questions to Selena, too!

Quiz Results: The Solitary Cyclist

RESULTS: In order of submission, 10/10 to:

  • Paul Hartnett, “Scout”
  • Ron Lies, “Chips”
  • Enrico Solito, “Devon”
  • Michael Ellis, “Lobo”
  • Margie Deck, “Gwen”, and Sheila Holtgrieve, “Daisy”
  • Elinor Gray, “Misty”
  • Alessandro Melillo
  • Stephanie Thomas, “Hyacinth”

Well done, everyone!

And, of course, the ANSWERS:

  1. Watson is very specific about the day and date that Miss Violet Smith visits 221B. He is also incorrect. When does he say she came, and why is it wrong?
    1. Saturday, April 23, 1895
    2. April 23, 1895, was a Tuesday
  2. Holmes says engaging in this sport is “always a treat”. What sport, and where did he engage in it?
    1. Boxing
    2. The “country pub” near Charlington
  3. This city was the target of a devastating attack 45 years later, but at the time of this story, it is home to a person most significant to Miss Violet Smith. What city, and whom does she say is there?
    1. Coventry
      Note: Ron Lies, “Chips”, and the team of Margie Deck, “Gwen”, and Sheila Holtgrieve, “Daisy”, sent in an alternate answer of “Westminster” – Cyril Morton lived there at the end of the story, and Westminster was also bombed in 1940.
    2. Her fiance, Cyril Morton
  4. This was an unconventional way to choose a groom, especially as neither candidate had yet met the bride. How was the decision made, and between what two parties?
    1. A game of cards
    2. Bob Carruthers and Jack Woodley
  5. It may have felt like 90 days, but it was really nowhere near that long. What, and how long was it?
    1. Mr Woodley’s visit to Chiltern Grange
    2. One week

Quiz: The Solitary Cyclist

As you recover from the mental exertions of the Treasure Hunt, try out this short quiz on “The Solitary Cyclist”. There are five questions, each of which has a two part answer, for a total of 10 points. Submit your answers by email to Selena by Sunday, September 18.

  1. Watson is very specific about the day and date that Miss Violet Smith visits 221B. He is also incorrect. When does he say she came, and why is it wrong?
  2. Holmes says engaging in this sport is “always a treat”. What sport, and where did he engage in it?
  3. This city was the target of a devastating attack 45 years later, but at the time of this story, it is home to a person most significant to Miss Violet Smith. What city, and whom does she say is there?
  4. This was an unconventional way to choose a groom, especially as neither candidate had yet met the bride. How was the decision made, and between what two parties?
  5. It may have felt like 90 days, but it was really nowhere near that long. What, and how long was it?

Help Wanted: Quizmaster

It’s the end of August, and there are only a few days remaining before the close of the Fourth Annual JHWS Treasure Hunt. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who participated, including my teammates in “An Experience of Canon Extending Over Four Teammates and Three Separate States”. I think we did pretty well, but we will see what “Gwen”, our Treasure Hunt Master has to say about our answers!

Margie Deck, JHWS “Gwen”, is the mastermind behind this year’s test, and some of those questions certainly showed how she earned the name of “Pawky Puzzler”! She will be stepping down from the role of Treasure Hunt Master so that she can play along with the rest of us next year. Before she hands off the baton, I want to thank her for all her hard work!

Now that the Treasure Hunt is ending, I’d like to remind everyone that we are currently looking for a Quizmaster to preside over our regular quizzes. This person would create and post short quizzes every two weeks (except during August, the month of the Treasure Hunt). Some of our past quizzes can be found on the Quiz Page. We are also looking for submissions of individual quizzes, if you would like to just try it out. Have you been bitten by the bug to create your own Canonical Quiz? Send it to selena @ johnhwatsonsociety.com!

2016 Treasure Hunt Forum/ Open on Quiz Page

Hello 2016 Treasure Hunters!

This post is now open for clarifications/questions/discussion concerning the 4th Annual JHWS Treasure Hunt.  I am opening the forum today, as our Treasure Hunt will post tomorrow evening (PDT) when it will be July 31 yet in some parts of the world but August 1 in other areas.  As we are now such a global group, we have many time zones to consider.

This forum will remain open through September 1. Please feel free to discuss anything related to the hunt with the exception of posting specific answers to any of the questions.  Any questions posted here for the Treasure Hunt Master will be answered as quickly as possible.

Happy Hunting!

Margie

A Quiz from the Archives

This week, we’re dipping into the archives for one of our dear Buttons’s quizzes. It originally ran in October, 2013. It’s a little bit different from the traditional Sherlockian trivia challenge.

Submit your answers by 11:59 PDT Sunday, June 5 to selena@johnhwatsonsociety.com. Include your answers to the all of the questions as well as the final result. (Please do not post answers in the comments to this post.)

This week’s quiz is on Canonical Numbers. Determine the number or numbers that are indicated by the textual clues. Each question is answered with a number. When you have answered all of the questions with their respective numeric answers, total all of the numbers and proceed to the final division and Solution.

Questions:

The enumeration in his mind for Anatomy.
Number of years of the unit.
The final three numerals.
St Luke’s scout’s tenure in rooms.
Beaten.
Number of inclusive years Holmes was a very busy man.
White sea’s distance away.
Number of lads who had supper in the kitchen.
Number of free citizens.
Numeric address of machinery assessors.
English governess’s age thereabouts.
Convert to numbers the time Holmes will be pleased to dine.
The object of the idiot’s love had been at boarding school ‘x’ years.
Amount of the maiden aunt’s capital.
At what hour on Monday was the office closed?
Page number of account in the big ledger.
Number of figures in only child’s marriage inter-vivos.
Shade of the elm.
Whistle ‘x’ minutes before the descent.
Number of the day of the month of the intrusive vicar.

Total of all Numbers: _____

Divide the Total by 28.66: _____

Final Number Answer: _____

Note: The Final Answer Number is your “Check” answer. If it is Canonically logical, you have correctly provided accurate numbers for all 20 questions. If it is not logical, you have one or more answers incorrect.

(Those of you who completed this back in 2013, shhhhh! Don’t spoil the ending! 🙂 )

3rd Annual Treasure Hunt Answers

Hello!  As noted yesterday on the news page, the treasure hunt answers are attached here today on the Quiz page.  As you read through the document, you will realize that some alternative answers you submitted were accepted for the point count or your total points would not have been as high.   I had hoped to add the alternative answers to this document but due to the number of entries received, time just does not permit.  As always, questions/comments are welcome at treasurehunt@johnhwatsonsociety.com.

Thanks,

Margie

2015 JHWS TH with Answers

3rd Annual JHWS Treasure Hunt Forum Is Open

Hi Treasure Hunters!  This post is now open for clarifications/questions/discussion concerning the 3rd Annual JHWS Treasure Hunt.  It will remain open through September 1.  Please feel free to discuss anything related to the hunt with the exception of posting specific answers to any of the questions.  Any questions to /clarifications needed from the Treasure Hunt Master will be answered as quickly as possible.   Good luck!

Weekly Quiz: 2015 #10 A True Mystery

RESULTS:  No one successfully plumbed the depths of the quiz question this week.

ANSWER: Peregrine Phillips was from Bristol.  He invented the process to distill H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) commercially at low cost.  He was, therefore, considered the 19th century “Father of H2SO4” which was called commonly “vitriol.”  From there, you can quickly get to Kitty Winter, the pain of Baron Gruner, and ILLUS.  Vitriol is also mentioned in BLUE.  The real Baron Gruner died in 1860, well before the story, but he apparently was borrowed by Watson for authenticity.

Okay. You don’t care for genealogy.  Here is a deductive mystery for this week:

This Bristol Peregrine was indirectly the cause of pain to a European nobleman who died in 1860.  Identify the nobleman, the Peregrine, the link, and the story or book in which the reference occurs.

Please submit solutions to this very difficult quiz question to Buttons by noon Wednesday, March 4.

Good luck!

Wow! You ARE Good!

FURTHER TO THE SOLUTION

Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” also solved the question with this complete, fascinating and accurate submission:

Question: This dilettante was known by two names: Blackwood and Dufferin. How does this person figure in the Canon? Please name the person, how the connection comes and the story or book in which it appears.

Definition of dilettante:

a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment

  • archaic: a person with an amateur interest in the arts

Answer #1:

Helen Selina Blackwood, Baroness Dufferin and Claneboye, later Helen Selina Hay, Countess of Gifford, born Helen Selina Sheridan, (1807 – 13 June 1867), was a British songwriter, composer, poet, and author. Admired for her wit and literary talents, she was a well-known figure in London society of the mid-19th century. From childhood Helen had written poems, songs and prologues for private theatrical productions. After she and [sister] Caroline jointly brought out a Set of ten Songs and two Duets, she started to publish her verse, sometimes set to her own music. Her name was not usually printed at first, but she did not stay entirely anonymous. In 1863 a play of hers was staged, and in the same year she published an account of her travels up the Nile with her son. This poked fun at writing by lady travellers; the title Lispings from Low Latitudes, or, Extracts from the Journal of the Hon. Impulsia Gushington echoed [son] Frederick’s book Letters From High Latitudes. The purpose of the play was to satire travel literature, specifically that of women, during the time period. Her play, Finesse, or, A Busy Day in Messina, produced at the Haymarket Theatre with John Baldwin Buckstone as one of the actors, was a success, but the writer did not go to any of the performances, nor acknowledge her authorship.

RETI, W., p. 1115 : “On that particular evening old Amberley, wishing to give his wife a treat, had taken two upper circle seats at the Haymarket Theatre.”

And———speaking of Frederick, her son:

Answer #2:

Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Duffein and Ava, could be considered a person with an amateur interest in the arts as he became president of the Oxford Union Society for debate, but left Oxford after only two years without obtaining a degree; he commissioned schooners and a steamer to journey around the north Atlantic, eventually publishing a book about this travels.  Although the book was a success, he did not pursue a career as an author, instead became a public servant, with diplomatic postings in Syria, Canada (Governor General), Imperial Russia, India (Viceroyalty), Egypt (British Commissioner), Italy and French, and facilitated British diplomatic work in Afghanistan and Burma. He initiated sporting prizes; he initiated heritage preservation of historic sites; he initiated the building of the Dufferin Terrace.  He later served, rather badly, as chairman of the London and Globe Finance Corporation.  Hi biographer Davenport-Hines says he was imaginative, sympathetic, warm-hearted, and gloriously versatile; he was an effective leader in Lebanon, Canada and India, averted war with Russia, and annexed Burma; he was careless of money but charming in high society in three continents.

–The careless of money and charming in three continents sounds very familiar concerning our good Dr. Watson, but, perhaps, this diplomat would be more closely associated with Mycroft:

BRUC, W., p. 914: “We will suppose that a minister needs information as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada and the bimetallic question.”

RESULTS:

Michele Lopez “Reggie” sends along his correct solution below:

“The person is Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. His connection with the Canon derives from the fact that he was Governor General of Canada from 1872 to 1878. While there, he visited Manitoba and inaugurated a part of the Canadian Pacific Railway. BLAC.”

Now, for a bit of coincidence: Enrico “Devon” sends along his correct solution below:

“Helen Selina Blackwood, Lady Dufferin, who wrote the words of a popular ballade. The first line “I’m sitting on the tile, Mary” is quoted in VALL, as sang by Mc Murdo.”

This solution is also correct and, interestingly, Helen Selina Sheridan Blackwood, the lyric writer, was Lady Dufferin and the mother of Frederick Hamilton Temple Blackwood, Marquis of Dufferin.

Two excellent scholars from Italy have solved an obscure question set in Pennsylvania, USA in VALL, involving an Irish marquis, born in Florence, Italy, who became the Governor of Canada and whose mother wrote the lyrics to a popular song also known as “The Lament of the Irish Immigrant.” both “Reggie” and “Devon” have different answers and are both correct. Amazing!

So, the answer can be:  Helen Selina Blackwood, Lady Dufferin, or her son, Frederick Hamilton Temple Blackwood, and both have Canonical connections.

Within an hour, we had four correct submissions on this week’s quiz involving “ermine”!  You are all so good that Buttons has to defend his honour and offer one more really obscure quiz question for your week-end:

This dilettante was known by two names: Blackwood and Dufferin. How does this person figure in the Canon? Please name the person, how the connection comes and the story or book in which it appears.

That ought to occupy all of you Quiz Masters for more than an hour!

Weekly Quiz: 2015 # 8

RESULTS: Michele Lopez “Reggie,” Margie Deck “Gwen,” Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Denny Dobry “Kirby” all solved the quiz question:  ermine = stoat = Sherman kept a stoat or ermine in SIGN (Pg. 117) and although Teddy the mongoose is not an ermine, he had the legs of a stoat.  (CROO Pg. 421).

You seem to like these single-quest quizzes, so here is another one for this week:

Ermine is found twice in the Canon.  Quote each instance and provide the book or story.

Weekly Quiz 2015: #7

RESULTS:  We have several interesting results.  The “first-in” was Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” with completely alternative and correct answers to those Buttons has proposed; we print them in full:

  1. This Canonical character purchased a stationers & office supply business.

Answer:  Johann Faber– the German pencil maker moved to the United States in 1848, and in 1849, operated a stationary store at #133 William Street, New York City. (Wikipedia, www.nyc.gov)

3STU, W., p. 599:  “You are aware than Johann Faber is the most common maker’s name.”

  1. Associate a promontory of eastern Greece, a maid, two royals, and explain how they come together in what book or story.

Answer: Mt. Athos, Rachel Howells, Charles I and Charles II, MUSG

The Mount Athos promontory is the easternmost part of the larger Chalkidiki peninsula. (www.greecethisway.com/regions)

In some Greek mythology, the name Athos belongs to a Thracian giant; Poseidon threw a huge rock against Athos and buried him underneath–the rock was then called Mount Athos.(www.inathos.gr)

Rachel Howells allowed Brunton to die (be buried) under the heavy, large stone, while carrying away the coins of Charles the First, and the crown saved for Charles the Second.

MUSG, W., Text, pp. 396-397

THEN . . .Michele Lopez “Reggie” sent along an alternative to question #1 that is also correct, as well as a correction to question #2; printed here:

1. This Canonical character purchased a stationers & office supply business.

Jabez Wilson. “I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Pope’s Court.” [REDH, 181]

2. Associate a promontory of eastern Greece, a maid, two royals, and explain how they come together in what book or story.

The promontory is Cape Colonna (the reference is made, I believe, by Tracy, Dakin and others, but it’s wrong. The Colonnas are a very ancient and important noble family from Rome and they take their name from the small town of Colonna, on the Roman Hills).

A maid: Lucretia Venucci; two royals; Napoleon and the Borgias; the story is, of course, SIXN.

AND, Enrico Solito “Devon” sent along his comments on question #2 and–we discover–he has written on the subject!  His answer, here:

“I suspect there is a mistake in the question on the site. If the solution is SIXN and the Greek promontory is Colonna, I am afraid this is the only mistake in the excellent Tracy’s book. It is true that Cape do exists (we in Italy have another, and a couple of Mountain Colonna too) but any Italian knows that the Princes of Colonna (or simply Princes Colonna) are one of the most famous noble family in Roma, that expressed a lot of Popes and connected to the Church, including the (in)famous Alexander VI Borgia. I attach here a little article I wrote about the Princes and the Prince at the time of SIXN, what probably was the Pearl and how it arrived in Borgia’s hands.”

NOW . . . the answers Buttons had are a bit tongue in cheek and question #1 would be nearly impossible for International Members as it involves a large, “Big-Box” chain sale last week. Question #2 was taken from the erroneous Tracy entry (Encyclodaedia Sherlockiana); however, it is–in fact–also correct in that there truly is a Cape Colonna in Greece, as well as in Italy.  Here are the intended answers:

  1. Staples, the butler of Culverton Smith (DYIN).  Staples just bought Office Depot last week.
  1. The promontory is Colonna in Greece; the two royals, the Prince and Princess (Lucretia Venucci) of Colonna in Italy; the maid of the Princess stole the Black Pearl of the Borgias in SIXN.

Here are two questions for our Quiz Masters and Mavens:

1. This Canonical character purchased a stationers & office supply business.

2. Associate a promontory of eastern Greece, a maid, two royals, and explain how they come together in what book or story.

Please submit answers to Buttons by 12 Noon, Wednesday, February 11, 2014.

Weekly Quiz: 2015-6

RESULTS:  Good Quiz!  The mother is Bathsheba; her wise child is Solomon; and the reference is from “The Adventure of the Crooked Man”:  Holmes: “You remember the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba? My Biblical knowledge is a trifle rusty, I fear, but you will find the story in the first or second of Samuel.”

Those who successfully solved the quiz (in order) are: Patricia Villicrusis “Helena,” Milissa Anderson “Faith,” Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Denny Dobry “Kirby.” Well Done All!

You seem to like the slightly esoteric one question quizzes . . . So here is an obscure one for you to solve:

A mom, referred to by Holmes, had a wise child. Provide her name, the name of her child and the story or book where the reference is made. Extra credit for the textual quote.

Please submit answers by noon, Wednesday, February 4th.  Send solution to: buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com