Please see the Quiz Page for the 13 October announcements of the Weekly and Monthly Quiz Masters and a new quiz schedule that will make it easier to find the time to work on the weekly puzzle.
New Weekly Quiz Today!
The first of the new Weekly Quiz features will appear today by 12 Noon (Pacific time) on the Quiz Page! Please take a look and give it a try. Your answers can be sent via email to Buttons by 12 Noon on Saturday 21 September 21. First email received with the highest number of correct answers is the week’s Quiz Master.
The Open International Competition of the Treasure Hunt Won by the Team from France!
The Society is pleased to announce the winners of the Open International Competition of the First Annual John H. Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt:
Team France of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France.
Their team consisted of M. Thierry Saint-Joanis and M. Alexis Barquin, who are both leaders of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France and maintain the very valuable website Sherlockian Who’s Who found at the following web address:
http://www.sh-whoswho.com/index.php
This skilled and knowledgeable team answered an amazing number of the 100 difficult questions, and did so without the use of the edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes specified in the Treasure Hunt and to which all page number references were keyed. Essentially, they were working from memory. Formidable!
Congratulations to the first International Team winners!
The Answer Key to the First Canonical Treasure Hunt has now been posted on the Treasure Hunt Page.
Exciting New Quiz Approach
Here at the Doctor’s Consulting Room, we have an idea to keep our valued patients entertained while they await the good doctor’s ministrations.
Up until now, we have set out single question quiz conundrums for almost daily consumption. Not everyone stops by the practice daily, so we are going to tack up on the notice board a Weekly Quiz consisting of 10 to 20 individual questions. These will be set based on a theme. One week it may be poisons in the Canon; another it may be professions; other weekly themes may concern counties, or trains, or hotels, or manor houses, or dates … or even figs for that matter … the possibilities are almost endless.
You will be invited to work out the answers and send an email with your solutions to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by the final day when the Weekly Quiz closes. Buttons will review your answers with the good doctor (who, after all, is the only one who knows precisely what he meant when he wrote the Canon) and the two of them will announce a Weekly Quiz Master. The successful Quiz Master will be the person who emails first with the highest number of correct answers.
The Weekly Quiz Masters will have an opportunity to participate in a Quarterly Quiz every three months (the 12 Weekly Quiz Masters competing for the Quarterly Quiz Master).
And, as you have already deduced, the four Quarterly Quiz Masters will participate for the Annual Quiz Master designation. Somewhere along the way, there will be appropriate, nice mementos for those members who excel. Sounds a lot like that American quiz program “Jeopardy,” doesn’t it?
Now for the details…
The Weekly Quiz will be posted on the Quiz Page of the Society website by 12:00 Noon (Pacific) each Monday.
Answers (preferably Word documents sent as an attachment) will be emailed to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 12:00 Noon (Pacific) on the Saturday following (you will have five days to complete the Quiz). To be the Weekly Quiz Master, you will have to email first and have the highest number of correct answers.
The Weekly Quiz Master will be posted on the Quiz Page on the next Monday when the new Weekly Quiz is posted.
We believe this will be great fun… plus there is another reason for developing our skills. The Annual John H. Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt has recently identified a team of Quiz Mavens (the Seattle-based SOB’s) who have proven to be among the best in the world. Soon, we are going to expand upon that unique competition…. a very exciting development to be announced in a few months . . . and we are hoping to identify even more Quiz Masters and Quiz Mavens within the Society for what promises to be a whole new level of Canonical scholarship and quiz expertise. Stay tuned! But, until, please participate in the Weekly Quiz events!
The first Weekly Quiz begins 16 September 2013 by 12 Noon (Pacific). Watch for it! Try it! Have some fun!
Treasure Hunt Winners!
The 2013 First Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt was a success!
Many of our members (and many non-members) have reported that it was “fiendishly difficult,” “maddeningly hard,” and “just plain tough.” There were 100 questions, linked, requiring the solver to work from question 1 through to question 100 in order to arrive at the identification of the Ultimate Treasure. The devisers of the Treasure Hunt believe that it may be the most difficult quiz ever set in Watsonian and Sherlockian history.
Participants were given one month to complete the Treasure Hunt and the winners were determined by the number of correct answers, the date and time of submission of the answers, and the correct solution to the final Ultimate Treasure.
Were are delighted to announce that we have winners! There are members and non-members who persevered and found their way to the solution.
The 2013 winners of the First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt are:
Open Team Competition:
The team consisting of Society Members from Seattle’s Sound of the Baskervilles (SOB’s) who scored a perfect 100 on the very difficult questions. Their team consists of:
Stephen Adkins, JHWS “Alfie”
Margie Deck, JHWS “Gwen”
David Haugen
Sheila Holtgrieve, JHWS “Daisy”
Allen Nelson, JHWS “tbn”
Margaret Nelson, JHWS “tbn”
Congratulations to Team SOB’s on their scholarship, teamwork and their perseverance. They report having logged hundreds of hours during the month-long Treasure Hunt. They also competed entirely for the fun and joy and specifically requested that they be awarded no prize. Instead, the Society has awarded two-year Charter Memberships to the team non-members as a token of its respect and admiration and to joyfully obtain four new members who are dynamite quizzers. The team will defend in the 2014 Second Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt scheduled for June 2014.
Open Individual Competition:
Working entirely alone and finally completing the Treasure Hunt just as his wife was preparing to pack his bags for him after twenty-three days of Treasure Hunt obsession, and as his grandchildren were constantly questioning “What in the world is wrong with Pop?” our intrepid Society member Denny Dobry, JHWS “Kirby,” who resides in Reading, Pennsylvania and is the Current Gasogene of the White Rose Irregulars of York, took Open Individual honours with a score of 98 correct answers. Denny even managed to find numerous alternative, accurate answers to questions that Buttons overlooked. Congratulations to “Kirby” on a job well done. He wins the Treasure Hunt Prize, a British First Edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes donated by an anonymous member.
The Open Student Competition attracted no entries. We would encourage all Society members to “adopt a student for the Canon” and encourage participation in next year’s Treasure Hunt.
The Open Team International Competition has been extended to 9 September 2013 and a winner will be announced if the correct entry is received.
The answers to the 2013 Treasure Hunt will be added to the Treasure Hunt page on 9 September 2013 when the competition is officially closed.
Congratulations to all who participated, those who tried, those who persevered, and those who achieved success. Next year, the Treasure Hunt will be revised and a focus on teams as well as inter-Canonical organization competition will be strengthened. And . . . It will be even more difficult!
Please watch for announcements of the 2014 Second Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt over the months ahead. Also, please watch in the next month for an announcement of a major new event being sponsored by our Society that will involve the entire Watsonian/Sherlockian/Holmesian world! This is going to be VERY exciting!
And now . . . after a long labour . . . perhaps Buttons shall have a steak and kidney pie and a pint of best bitter . . . or two . . . .
The 2013 Treasure Hunt is Closed. The 2014 Treasure Hunt is Announced!
The 2013 Treasure Hunt is closed. The winners will be announced on Wednesday, 4 September 2013 on this Blog page. The International category will remain open until 9 September 2013 at 12 Noon (Pacific) and the winner of the International category will be announced here shortly thereafter.
The 2014 John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt is Announced!
The 2014 Treasure Hunt will have slight changes and will shift focus towards open individual and team participation and competition from scion clubs and organisations worldwide. Society members, individuals and teams will find a detailed explanation of the 2014 Treasure Hunt on the Treasure Hunt Page of the website.
We encourage preparation and assembling of resources for the next John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt which we promise will be as difficult as the 2013 edition. We also are announcing new collectible awards in lieu of tangible prizes.
Winners of the Treasure Hunt Announced: Please See Blog Page
Please see the Blog Page for an announcement of the 2013 Treasure Hunt winners.
Treasure Hunt: POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT!
A very positive development has come to our attention. Our esteemed colleagues in France, The Sherlock Holmes Society of France, have been working on the Treasure Hunt. They had to order reference materials from the United States and these have taken significant time to receive. They are nearing completion, but have requested an extension of the deadline.Buttons has not extended the deadline, as one cannot change the rules after the fact. However, Buttons has created a new category, the International category, and has given a one week extension for that category to 9 September 2013 at 12 Noon (Pacific).
This benefits The John H Watson Society in a number of ways:
1. It gives us international exposure and the opportunity to shift our annual Treasure Hunt into a worldwide experience beginning in 2014.
2. It gives us the privilege of building a bond with one of the largest, oldest and most respected Sherlockian societies in the world: La Société Sherlock Holmes de France .
3. It allows us to expand the awareness of the John H Watson Annual Treasure Hunt to many more people and clubs in order to make it an even more meaningful measure of global scholarship and Canonical knowledge.
4. It supports the evidence from this year’s inaugural John H Watson Society Treasure Hunt that the Society will benefit from shifting its Treasure Hunt focus slightly to include inter-scion and inter-club competition, as well as individuals. Everyone benefits when the base is broadened to include more people and more organisations; it’s a win-win-win.
Therefore, having made a unilateral decision for the benefit of the Society, Buttons will not post the answers to the Treasure Hunt until 9 September 2013. The winners of the Members and other categories will be announced as scheduled on Thursday, 4 September 2013. The new International category will be announced on 9 September 2013.
Buttons sincerely hopes this has the approval and support of the Members. The guiding thoughts are, as always, fairness and inclusion, all in support of the integrity, reputation, and expansion of the Society and its aims.
Society Chair Awarded Prize by The Friends of Sherlock Holmes Collections
Details are found on the Watsonian Limelight page. Congratulations to Prof. Don Yates.
Treasure Hunt ends Monday, September 2
At 12 Noon (Pacific) on Monday, September 2, 2013 the Treasure Hunt will end. All entries will then be scored and evaluated for the number of correct answers and the time and date submitted. Winners will be announced on the Blog Page and on the Treasure Hunt Page on Wednesday, September 4, 2013.
Five Days to the End of the Treasure Hunt
All answers to the Canonical Treasure Hunt must be received by email to info@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 12 Noon (Pacific Time) on Monday 2 September 2013 to be eligible for the prizes. The winners in each category will be determined by the total number of correct answers and the time received.
Treasure Hunt Correction on Blog Page!!!
Please see the correction to question #45 on the Blog Page.
Treasure Hunt Correction: August 15
Question #77: The question reads: What is the story and to whom does it
refer?
refer?
It is more accurate to ask: What is the story and to what does it refer?
Treasure Hunt Question Correction
Question # 75: The word fiancée should be fiancé.
Ask Treasure Hunt Questions Here
Post your questions about the Treasure Hunt here and Buttons will try to answer them whilst navigating a pork pie and a pint.
Less Than 24 Hours to the Treasure Hunt!
Tomorrow at 12 Noon Pacific time the questions for First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt will be posted on the Treasure Hunt page. Simply click on “Download File” and save and print it for your use. Good Luck to All!
New Members’ Comments Page
We have added a Members’ Comments page. This is an old-fashioned “Bulletin Board” where you can ask questions, request information, seek collectibles, post your own quiz questions, discuss the Canon and start a dialogue with other members. It’s just for you. Enjoy!
Six Days to the Treasure Hunt
Start NOW to assemble your references and resources for answering the 100 questions of the First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt.
Read the new page devoted to the Treasure Hunt. All of the Rules, Resources and Directions have been listed for your information.
If you don’t have some of the references or resources, it is perfectly okay to call on other Society members or other Sherlockians and Watsonians for assistance with research. Ours is a collegial Society and so are other Sherlockian clubs and organisations. If we work together, we strengthen the Society as a whole.
Note: The document on the Treasure Hunt page is only a test document. It will be replaced by the Treasure Hunt questions at noon (Pacific), August 1, 2013.
Please consider working with a student and mentoring them in Canonical Scholarship by assisting them with the Treasure Hunt. Any success with this historic quiz could create a future, life-long Watsonian and Sherlockian and a new generation of enthusiasm.
Good Luck! Have Fun!
Treasure Hunt: It’s Coming!
ONLY 15 DAYS UNTIL THE TREASURE HUNT!
With so many new members, we remind all members of the Society of the upcoming Treasure Hunt.
The First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt will involve a lengthy search through the Canon and scholarly material requiring Watsonian Seekers of Truth to sort through a large body of data in order to arrive at the point where the Canonical Treasure is to be found and identified.
Our treasure hunt will involve encryption, obscure references, geographic and biologic inferences, people, objects, dates, and all manner of Watsonian and Holmesian/Sherlockian knowledge.
Be cautioned! It will not be simple. The First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt may well take you weeks to sort out the answer . . . perhaps months. This will make the Musgrave Ritual look like child’s play. You will be required to hunt through the literature, both the Sacred Canon and the related scholarship of the past seventy years.
And there will be prizes! The first Society Charter member to email the correct answer will receive a fine first British edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes donated to the Society by an anonymous member. Other categories of winners will also receive handsome donated prizes.
And now for the Rules:
- The Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt will be posted on the Society’s website at the Quiz Page at exactly 12:00 Noon (Pacific) on Thursday, 1 August 2013. All participants will have an equal opportunity relative to time and access. The Canonical Treasure Hunt will end upon submission of the first correct answer or on Monday, September 2, 2013 at 12 Noon (Pacific).
- The Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt shall have four categories: Charter Members, Non-Members, Founding Members and Students. One winner from the Charter Members shall be determined and one winner from Non-Members shall also be determined. A winning Founding Member will be determined, as well. Founding Members may not compete in the Charter Member category. The Student winner may be a member or non-member, but must be enrolled in a high school, college or university of higher learning. The Charter Member winner will receive a first British edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ( a $1,000 value). The Non-Member winner will receive a six-year membership to the Society (a $120 value). The Student winner will receive an Honorarium of $250. The Founding Member (Directors) winner shall have the satisfaction of knowing the answer submitted was correct.
- The winners will be determined by two criteria: 1) Correctness of the final answer; and 2) Time of receipt of the correct answer by the Society via email at info@johnhwatsonsociety.com . Winners in all categories will be posted on the Society website. NOTE: The final answer will consist of identifying the ultimate Treasure, but will also require answering correctly in writing all questions leading up to the final answer.
- All matters concerning the Canonical Treasure Hunt, the contest, the answers, and the determination of the winning answer will be the sole decision of the John H Watson Society Directors. The only purpose of the Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt is to encourage scholarship and a deeper understanding of the writings of John H Watson, M.D. All prizes have been donated to the Society by anonymous members.
The Society encourages its members to inform as many people of this First Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt as possible. We also encourage other scion clubs and organisations to let their members know of this unique and exciting event. And, we would hope the Sherlockian, Holmesian and Watsonian media worldwide find it a worthy effort for featuring prominently in their reportage.
And so, we anticipate the First Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt and ask you to spread the word and return promptly at noon (Pacific) on Thursday 1 August 2013 for the revealing of the mystery! The game IS afoot!
Extraordinary! Exciting News! Alert Friends! Send Emails! Inform the Watsonian World!
If you like the Quiz Page, you are going to want to know about this!
Go to the The Watsonian Blog page and read about what is coming!
Then tell the world!
Even Buttons awoke for this!