“A lie, Watson – a great, big, thumping, obtrusive, uncompromising lie”
(VALL, 800)
Dear fellow Watsonians, I must confess to a heinous crime.
In giving the answers to the Annual Treasure Hunt, I lied. Shamelessly. But I did it for a good cause.
Let me explain. Among the questions for the Hunt, I devised one that, in my mind, had to be the most difficult of the lot. Unfortunately, I had totally overlooked the fact that there was a simple, straightforward and perfectly Canonical answer to that question. When the answers arrived, I found out that all participants had given that correct alternative answer. So much for the so-called ingenuity and deviousness of the Quiz Master.
And so I lied. I changed the list of the answers that I had already prepared and put the alternative answer in the place of that which I had originally conceived. The purpose was to avoid spoiling the original answer and to provide the contestants with a new challenge.
Here it is. Question # 4 in the Hunt, you will recall, was the following: The subject of this question won a blue award twice. Who or what?
You all answered “Gilchrist”, who had won the Blue for the hurdles and the long jump. But there is another answer to that question, a most difficult and complex one.
So the sequel to the Annual Treasure Hunt is: find another answer to question #4, the answer that I had originally in mind.
Hints: this question requires a little digging in external sources, such as an encyclopaedia and/or Internet search engines. The subject of the question can be a person, an animal, a company, a government or any other entity. The subject is mentioned in the Canon, but the award is not (so it is useless to search for, say, all occurrences of the word “blue”).
Since this is a hard question, you have one month to submit the answer (by e-mail to treasurehunt (AT) johnhwatsonsociety.com). The answer will be posted on October 21.
I hope you will enjoy this quiz. Happy Hunting!
Oh, ‘Reggie’, I am laughing! I had a rather obscure, out-there, answer to this question–much like you have described here–and I took it off the Treasure Hunt because I thought it had to be wrong. Now looking for my notes….????
With a delay of three days, here is the answer I promised:
The Guion Steamship Company, or, more exactly, the “Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Company”, commonly known as the “Guion Line” from the name of its owner Stephen Guion. Two of its vessels, the Alaska in 1882 and the Oregon in 1884, won the Blue Riband, for the fastest westbound Atlantic crossing. Another Guion-owned ship, the Arizona, had won the record for the fastest eastbound crossing, but this did not count as a Blue Riband.
«“They are both from the Guion Steamship Company, and refer to the sailing of their boats from Liverpool.”» (STUD, 30)
The only one to give the right answer was Enrico Solito, our “Devon”. I received other ingenious answers, from “Daisy” & “Mopsy” and from Mark Doyle. Their idea of the reference to the “Blue Plaques” is smart, and it could be considered a valid alternative answer had this been a regular Hunt question.
I hope you had fun with this addendum. I know I had in trying to devise questions that would beat the sharp brains of my fellow Watsonians. Thank you all.
Fantastic question! Infernally complex and providing (too many) hours of frustrating fun. Well done, “Reggie” and congratulations to Enrico Solito!
(“Reggie”, I note that you posted the answer at 3.31am!!! You can have a rest now.)
Er… I live in Europe, so it was actually 9:31 a.m. I am well rested, thanks! 😀
Bravo to Enrico!
And, one more time, Thank You to ‘Reggie’ for an absolutely wonderful Treasure Hunt and Treasure Hunt Bonus.
The 2017 hunt was masterful indeed.
Thanks. I too tried with the blue plaques, but it seemed to me more probable the horses, considering Watson’s attitude to Turf ! :))
To explain better…I added a second (hironic) reply about Isonomy.