Hello! It is now a mere ten days until the 3rd Annual John H Watson Treasure Hunt posts, and I’m thinking it is time for another warm up question. And here we go:
Without becoming too terribly preoccupied, determine the missing name to complete the series:
Helen::Grimesby
Victor::Elise
Percy:: ___________
John::Sherlock
Sherlock::Adelbert
Sherlock::Jacky
Sherlock::Josiah
Joseph?
Hi Misty: Good guess! But not quite what we’re looking for here. This question is an example of a difficult treasure hunt question. [This year’s hunt is fairly evenly balanced: 1/3 easy, 1/3 medium, and 1/3 difficult.] It asks that you make an association between something name one said about/did in relation to name two that is common across the pairs listed. Of course, the John::Sherlock is not much help in solving the question as there are so many things that John said about/did in relation to Sherlock. However, the interactions between the others pairs are limited to a single story. Also the question structure always provides a clue, so phrasing in the question is important—“terribly preoccupied” is a major clue. Thanks for giving it a go! 🙂
Annie
I’ve got nothing.
Except for the knowledge that there are 3 men named Percy in Canon, but that’s not very helpful.
Hi All: I think I might have blown the wording on this one since no one is getting it. My ‘warm up’ questions were not vetted by my counselor, Melissa (JHWS ‘Faith’)–who, thankfully, read my Treasure Hunt as I wrote it, and advised me when I went off the rails, resulting in a question that was either too hard or not clear enough. I think she might have counseled me to make this one clearer! I planned the warm ups so that our participants could get a feel for the pawky, the difficult, and the straight forward types of questions that will be on the hunt. Anyway, here is the answer to this one–
Answer: Percy
Explanation: the first person stated the second person possibly suffered from a mania, and Percy said it about himself. Helen Stoner said it about Grimesby Roylott, Victor Hatherley said it about Elise, John Watson said it about Sherlock Holmes, etc. My hope was the clue in the question ‘terribly preoccupied’ would make you think about people preoccupied with things in a bad way. Whoops!–didn’t work; perhaps I should have said ‘overly fixated’ or something else.
Here is the documentation:
Helen Stoner about Grimesby Roylett:
–W., p. 260, SPEC: “But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house, and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather’s case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics.”
Victor Hatherley about the woman called Elise
–W., p. 281, ENGR: “But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac.” [The woman is called Elise by Colonel Lysander Stark, p. 283.]
Percy Phelps about Percy Phelps
–W., p. 454, NAVA: “One of them drove down with me to Waterloo and saw me into the Woking train. I believe that he would have come all the way had it not been that Dr. Ferrier, who lives near me, was going down by that very train. The doctor most kindly took charge of me, and it was well he did so, for I had a fit in the station, and before we reached home I was practically a raving maniac.”
John Watson about Sherlock Holmes
–W., p. 622, MISS: “For years I had gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had threatened once to check his remarkable career. Now I knew that under ordinary conditions he no longer craved for this artificial stimulus, but I was well aware that the fiend was not dead, but sleeping; and I have known that the sleep was a light one and the waking near when in periods of idleness I have seen the drawn look upon Holmes’s ascetic face, and the brooding of his deep-set and inscrutable eyes.”
Sherlock Holmes about Adelbert Gruner:
W., p. 995, ILLU: “Oh, yes, he will see you. He has the collection mania in its most acute form – and especially on this subject, on which he is an acknowledged authority. Sit down, Watson, and I will dictate the letter. No answer needed. You will merely say that you are coming, and why.”
Sherlock Holmes about Jacky Ferguson:
W., p. 1043, SUSS: “You have to face it, Mr. Ferguson. It is the more painful because it is a distorted love, a maniacal exaggerated love for you, and possibly for his dead mother, which has prompted his action. His very soul is consumed with hatred for this splendid child, whose health and beauty are a contrast to his own weakness.”
Sherlock Holmes about Josiah Amberley:
W., p. 1113, RETI: “Like all misers, he was a jealous man, and his jealousy became a frantic mania. Rightly or wrongly, he suspected an intrigue. He determined to have his revenge, and he planned it with diabolical cleverness. Come here!”
Margie,
The mania thread was an excellent catch for a question, but I can see where wording a question without making it too easy would be difficult. Your warmup questions have gotten the old mental juices flowing and I’m anxious for the HUNT to start.
Kirby
Well, I was looking at the right story, anyway. That gives me hope. 🙂
Haha, I thought it was “people who have entered other people’s rooms uninvited.” I need to remember the intro is as much clue as the question!