Upon the Terrace for Sheila Holtgrieve, Our “Daisy”

The John H Watson Society sadly lost charter member Sheila ‘Daisy’ Holtgrieve this past week to intestinal cancer.

Sheila, a long-time member of the Sound of the Baskervilles of Seattle, joined the JHWS as part of the inaugural Treasure Hunt team from Seattle in 2013. An avid quiz taker and puzzle solver, she played an active part in each treasure hunt from then through 2019.

In addition to the JHWS and the SOBs, she was also a member of The Stormy Petrels of British Columbia, The Dogs in the Nighttime of Anacortes, WA, and The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. She read mysteries and Holmes pastiches daily and corresponded with Sherlockians in many parts of the country, sending many thank you notes and encouragement cards.

Sheila moved to Seattle in 2009 from California, after her retirement from Stanford University Medicine where she worked as an RN in the ICU for many years, and the death of her husband, Denis. She is survived by her son, daughter-in-law, twin 8-year-old grandchildren, a sister and brother-in-law, and a niece and nephew.

Treasure Hunt Honours

The Second Annual John H Watson World Invitational Canonical Treasure Hunt was held during the entire month of August, 2014. Individuals from the Society and non-members competed and, for the first time, Teams from France, Italy, and the US took part in the Treasure Hunt.

Team Category

The Team category High Honours this year went to Team SOB of Seattle’s Sound of the Baskervilles comprised of Melissa Anderson JHWS “Faith,” Margie Deck JHWS “Gwen,” Sheila Holtgrieve JHWS “Daisy,” and Ariana Maher JHWS “Carla.” This team were first in with 100% correct answers; in fact, they developed numerous additional answers to the questions which were equally correct to the original solutions. Team SOB has members Margie Deck and Sheila Holtgrieve who achieved High Honours in last year’s Treasure Hunt. Ariana Maher and Melissa Anderson added talents in both  Canonical knowledge and research to this year’s competition.  It is reported by the Team that they invested nearly 400 hours collectively in finding the solution to the Hunt. Well Done, Seattle Sound of the Baskervilles!

Team Uno Studio in Holmes from Italy achieved Honours and was comprised of Michelle Lopez, JHWS “Reggie,” Stefano Guerra, JHWS “Lucus,” Enrico Solito JHWS “Devon,” Alessandra Calanchi, JHWS “Bianca,” Roberto Vianello, Gabriele Mazzoni, and Ambrose Scott.

Team La Fayette of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France comprised of Alexis Barquin JHWS “Olivier,” and Thierry Saint-Joanis JHWS “Tristan” achieved Honours. 

Individual Category

The Individual category High Honours went to Denny Dobry “JHWS “Kirby” of Reading, Pennsylvania who successfully repeated his 2013 High Honours. Denny also found numerous additional answers to the questions and reached the solution after many hours of tenacity and superb work.  Well Done, “Kirby.”

Other participants gave it a great effort but were unable to complete the grueling 150 question romp through the Canon.

Congratulations to All

We congratulate all who were successful and all who participated. Both the Individual and Team High Honours will be presented with attractive commemorative awards.

The announcement of the 2015 Third Annual World Invitational Treasure Hunt has been posted on the Treasure Hunt page of the website.  The Game is Afoot!

Weekly Quiz 2014: 30

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Results:  Elinor Gray “Misty” was first in and takes the honours for the week.  The SOB team of Ariana Maher “Carla,” Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Margie Deck “Gwen,” triumphed again, adding more to the knowledge of the topic.

Buttons had selected the one reference in the Canon to ‘shotgun’ that is NOT listed in any of the usual references, concordances, encyclopedias, or other word compendiums usually consulted. It was “truncated flowling piece” (a sawed-off shotgun) found in VALL.  This shows once again that Goodrich, Tracy, Baring-Gould and Klinger missed a few now and then.  Answers are above.

This week’s quiz is short, but somewhat difficult.  Have fun!

ONLY TWO DAYS TO THE TREASURE HUNT!

A Doctor Watson With a Twist, Please

Weekly Quiz 2014: 29
Results:  Our Seattle SOB Team of Margie Deck “Gwen,” Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” Ariana Maher “Carla,” and Melissa Anderson “Faith” were the sole honor-takers this week. Congratulations! Answers are below.Seven days to the Treasure Hunt!

This week’s quiz is random but with a few twists. Please submit your solution to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 4 pm 23 July 2014.

And, remember:  The Treasure Hunt begins in 13 days!

file_download.pngDownload Week 29 Questions

Weekly Quiz 2014: 28   Minor Characters of the Canon

RESULTS: The results this week have honours going to Ron Lies, “Chips” for being first in with 10/10 correct answers. Congratulations “Chips”!

Beth Gallego “Selena” also hounoured with a 10/10, as did James O’Leary “Pippin.” Congratulations to these Quiz Masters!

The team entry, as always, was ably mastered by Airiana Maher “Carla,” Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Margie Deck, “Gwen” of the Seattle SOBs. Congratulations to this trio also!

The answers are posted below. A number of alternative answers were provided by the Masters and, as it always does, this enriched the quiz experience.

This week’s quiz is about the minor characters of the Canon. Please submit solutions to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 7 pm Wednesday, 16 July 2014.

Enjoy!

file_download.pngDownload Week 28 Questions and Answers

After this week, a Brief Hiatus

Weekly Quiz 2014: 26

Results:  Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” and Margie Deck “Gwen” are the only Members to get this one correct. It was obscure, having been written about nearly 40 years ago.  “Daisy” even came up with an earlier usage of the “Divine Miss A” in the literature. Astounding work!  Answer is below.  See you in another week!

This week’s quiz is another small taste of the Treasure Hunt coming up 1 August.  Please submit the solution to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 4 pm Wednesday, 2 July 2014.

With the upcoming holiday and the general summer slow down, we will skip a week and resume the quiz on 11 July 2014.

file_download.pngDownload Week 26 Questions and Answers.

The Summer Solstice Quiz!

Weekly Quiz 2014: 25

Results:  You all got this quiz in one!  Submissions were received within hours. Congratulations to Elinor Gray “Misty,” Beth Gallego “Selena,” Melissa Anderson “Faith,” and our team of Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” and Margie Deck “Gwen” for their successes.  Must have been the Solstice!  Answers are below.

In celebration of the Summer Solstice tomorrow, we have this week’s quiz to delight you. Illuminations and solutions may be sent to Arthur Uther Pendragon via the usual mail: buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com

Come to think of it . . . I fail to recall the mention of the Summer Solstice–or any solstice–in the Canon. We have equinoctial gales, but no solstice. No Druids either.

file_download.pngDownload Week 25 Questions and Answers

“Can there be anything lovelier than a tree . . .?”

Weekly Quiz 2014:  24

Results:  The review of submissions for this week’s quiz reveals very fine research being done by a number of our Members. This quiz was subtle: there is more than one answer depending on interpretations.  Our Members found all of the standard solutions, but also found many more alternative solutions that are as correct as those found in the usual reference works on the Canon.  This was pure textual research and all of it was first rate!  For the first time, we see a spotlight on new analyses and scholarship concerning the Canonical flora. Congratulations to Beth Gallego “tbn,” Melissa Anderson “Faith,” and our team of Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” and Margie Deck “Gwen” for their superb research skills.Buttons has to believe that there is a wonderfully enlightening monograph somewhere in this quiz. Perhaps something like: “Sunlight and Shade: On the Various Canonical Trees and Bushes.”  Maybe our intrepid researchers and Quiz Masters will collaborate!

The answers are below, albeit not the definitive answers.

We look at Trees in the Canon for this week’s quiz.  Please submit your answers by 7 pm EDT Wednesday, 18 June 2014 to:  buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com

Enjoy!

file_download.pngDownload Week 24 Questions and Answers

Dr Watson’s Quotes Quiz

Results:  This week we had successes by: Melissa Anderson “Faith;” Beth Gallego, Loyal Member; and Elinor Gray “Misty.”  Our team success was submitted by the stalwarts: Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy.”  Well done! Answers are below.

This week’s quiz is about quotes by Dr Watson. Please fill in the blanks and cite the book or story in which the quote is found.  Please email submissions to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 7 pm ET, Wednesday, 11 June.

file_download.pngDownload Week 23 Questions and Answers.

Early Today due to Guests Arriving

Weekly Quiz 2014: 22

RESULTS: Cheers to Melissa Anderson “Faith,” and our team members Airy Maher, Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” and Margie Deck “Gwen” on this week’s solution. All were perfect and several alternative answers were discovered. Answers below.

This week’s quiz is about Canonical small things: physically and philosophically.  Good Luck!

Please submit solutions by 12 noon on Wednesday, 4 June 2014 to: buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com

file_download.png Download Week 22 Questions and Answers

Weekly Quiz 2014: 21

Results:  Melissa Anderson “Faith,” Denny Dobry “Kirby,” Elinor Gray “Misty,” and our team of Margie Deck “Gwen,” Airy Maher LM, and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” all had perfect scores on this week’s quiz. Melissa was, once again, in first in a matter of hours after the quiz was posted.  Congratulations Quiz Masters!  Answers below.

This week’s quiz is about water. Please submit solutions by 7 pm Wednesday, 28 May 2014 to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com.

file_download.png Download Week 21 Questions and Answers.

Diabolical Quiz This Week

RESULTS:  We have some VERY talented Quiz Masters!  Within hours, Melissa Anderson “Faith” submitted a perfect 30/30 and Elinor Gray “Misty” was in next with 27/30 for this most obscure quiz.  Team honours go to Airy Maher, Loyal Member,  Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” with a perfect 30/30.  Well done!  Answers below.

Here it is . . . the wicked one!  Good Luck.  Submissions by noon Wednesday please.

file_download.png Download Week 20 Questions and Answers.

Weekly Quiz 2014 – 19

RESULTS:  First in and 10/10 was Melissa Anderson “Faith” with Elinor Gray close and second in.  Team honours continue with Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” with 10/10.  Well Done! Answers below.

This week’s quiz is a Study in Absence of Colour

Please submit solutions to these questions by 7 pm Wednesday, 14 May 2014 to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com

Download Week 19 Questions and Answers.

Weekly Quiz: 2014-18

RESULTS:  You are all SO good at this!  First in again was Melissa Anderson “Faith” from Peoria with 20/20 and a couple of alternative answers that expand the horizons.  Perfection also from Denny Dobry “Kirby” and our Team members from Seattle, Margie Deck “Gwen,”  Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Airy Maher, Loyal Member.  Ever so close were Elinor Gray “Misty” and Michele Lopez “Reggie.”

Buttons is behind his time!  Too many patients to see the Doctor. Sorry. Please submit solutions by 7pm Wednesday, May 7, 2014.

This week’s quiz is about dates. It’s a tough one!  Good Luck!

file_download.pngDownload Week 18 Questions and Answers.

Weekly Quiz 2014: 17

RESULTS:  Melissa Anderson “Faith” was first in and 25/25.  Elinor Hickey “Misty” was spot-on. Denny Dobry “Kirby” was very competitive again. Michele Lopez “Reggie” was also spot-on.  The team honours, once again, go to Margie Deck “Gwen,” Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Airy Maher, Loyal Member, of Seattle’s SOBs. This was a difficult quiz and several of our “intrepid” Quiz Masters commented on the difficulty. You all did well.  Answers are below.

What is the address?  That is your quiz for this week. Fifteen difficult and challenging questions about Canonical addresses and their identification.

Please submit your solutions by 7 pm Eastern Wednesday, 30 April 2014 to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com.

file_download.pngDownload Week 17 Questions and Answers.

Weekly Quiz 2014: 16

A quiz on Canonical tools.  Please submit by 7 pm Eastern on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com

RESULTS: Once again, you are good!  Quiz solutions were all 10/10 and received in this order:  Individuals: Melissa Anderson “Faith;” Denny Dobry “Kirby;” Elinor Gray “Misty;” and Michele Lopez “Reggie.”  Team: Margie Deck “Gwen;” Shiela Holtgrieve “Daisy” and Airy Maher, Loyal Member.

Congratulations to all and especially for finding the many alternative answers that you uncovered.  Great work!  Answers are below.

file_download.pngDownload Week 16 Questions and Answers.

Weekly Quiz 2104: 15

This week’s quiz focuses on words. Describe the word as used and cite the story in which it is found. There may be several answers to each; one is sufficient. Honours will go to those who receive 25/25.

RESULTS: Excellent results this week with Elinor Gray “Misty” returning to take honours with 20/20 + 5 = 25 points and perfect answers plus numerous alternatives.  Also, Denny Dobry “Kirby” with 25 points and numerous alternatives in another of his usual thorough submissions. Team honours go to Margie Deck “Gwen” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy” with perfect results, as always.  Well Done ALL!  Answers below.

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Weekly Quiz:  2014: 14

RESULTS ARE IN!

The SOBs do it again! Our members of Team SOBs in Seattle have cracked the quiz for another perfect 25/25!  Margie Deck “Gwen,”  Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy,” and Airy Maher, Loyal Member returned a ‘spot on’ quiz for the week’s honours. Known as “The Invincibles” here at Quiz Central, we are inspired by their thorough scholarship and uncanny research capacity. Congratulations again!

Coming in close was our illustrious member from Italy, Michele Lopez, president of Uno Studio in Holmes, the Italian scion society. Michele submitted a few blanks, but added several new twists to the existing answers.  Well Done!

Answers are posted below.

Buttons has been fielding some lightweight quizzes recently owing to the activities involved in the relocation of the good Doctor’s offices . . . .  Now, it is time to get back to form since he has ample time to sit on his stool and contemplate the great mysteries whilst having a few pints and pies.

This week he turns to the Canon through the eyes of those who offer the “details behind the manuscript.” Each of the 20 questions concern details about Canonical facts.

Submissions may be made to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com up to 7 pm Eastern on Wednesday, 9 April 2014.  Good luck!
file_download.pngDownload Week 14 Questions and Answers.

Weekly Quiz 2014: 13

RESULTS: 4 April 2014

Four members submitted excellent analyses of the question about the ornithological “either/or” riddle.  Usually this is thought to be Dr Watson’s sighting of either a gull or a curlew in HOUN. Our member team of Margie Deck and Sheila Holtgrieve, “Gwen” and “Daisy” from Seattle, were first to submit with brilliant and very thorough textual, scientific and scholarship reviews favouring the gull.

Second in was Denny Dobry “Kirby” who submitted an equally adroit analysis offering evidence for either a city bred or a country bred goose in BLUE. This was a new theory in the extant scholarship and very clever; it hinges on the validity of the actual existence of a “crop” in a goose. Town geese, not having crops, were posited to have undergone an evolutionary change over time, thereby producing a crop due to London’s pollution.

And our third submission was from fellow member, Michele Lopez “Reggie”  president of Italy’s Uno Studio in Holmes, who offered his precise analysis of the gull/curlew hypothesis, also favouring the gull.

All were well-done and well-supported by both Canonical, scientific and scholarly evidence. Each cited the specific BSJ articles of prior years that explored the issues of birds in the Canon.

There will be a modest article in the forthcoming issue of The Watsonian at the end of this month discussing aspects of this question. Those interested are invited to read more on the topic in the journal.

This week’s quiz was a question requiring research, both Canonical and scientific.

Please download the quiz question below.
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Download the Week 13 Question.