BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » This week's Sherlock Holmes Quiz

kazza474 · March 29, 2012 5:41 am

Now many of us have read the original canon. There's a lot of information in it and way too much for the average high functioning sociopath to remember at the drop of a hat!
So I thought I'd take a different approach & add some questions that need research. Don't be scared of that big word, it's not like it's homework or anything. BUT what it will do is lead you to some pages with interesting facts. You may get lost in reading that page, but please come back and post your answers. Many of you should get these right with a little 'leg work'. Time to become internet detectives.
For reference I am using links from our own 'Sherlock Links" thread on this site. That should make things easier & give people a chance to go over old posts again! You can also look for links in threads related to the subject of each question.

I will also add some questions from the lovely BBC Sherlock series.

Canon
1. What real life person was the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes and who was his assistant?
2. Who does this describe? "A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for us upon the platform."
3. What is odd about Holmes' housekeeper in "Scandal in Bohemia" ?
4. What is the 'seven percent solution' referring to?
5. What building was at the real 221 Baker Street?

BBC
6. Whose murder was Sherlock investigating when he had a dummy hanging in the flat?
7. Who is Mrs Hudson's next door neighbour?
8. In the Blind Banker, what was the name of the shop the murdered men delivered the smuggled goods to and where was an item from there seen in Scandal?
9. What are the names of the manager & barman at the pub in Grimpen Village?
10. Name the person who posted this message and name the person whose blog it was posted on: "Yeah! I can't believe I've never seen Glee before! LOVED IT!"

Have fun.

BUMPED THIS IN CASE ANY NEWCOMERS WOULD LIKE TO TRY THE QUIZ.
*****WARNING, SPOILERS BELOW WHERE WE'VE LISTED ANSWERS.********

Last edited by kazza474 (May 23, 2012 3:52 am)

m0r1arty · March 29, 2012 1:59 pm

1) A Doctor Bell and I think AC Doyle was his assistant.

2) ??

3) He refers to the his housekeeper as Mrs Turner (Which the Beeb have done a nice job of parodying with John's blog)

4) Cocaine and it's not actually canon I think.

5) There was no real 221b Baker street as the numbers only went up to 100 at the time. There is an Abbey National there now though (Or used to be).

6) Greek runner or something resembling that.

7) Mrs Turner!

8) ??

9) ??

10) It's Molly's blog and it was Jim (Or at least a comment with his name) who posted it.

I like the mish-mash of knowledge there Kazza - very nice!

-m0r

Davina · March 29, 2012 2:58 pm

Filling some of the gaps:
1) Doctor Jospeh Bell
2) is Inspector Lestrade
4) was a 1974 novel by Nicholas Meyer which is a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes Adventure

The rest from the series...what a good excuse to watch them again!

Great mix of questions. I like a lottie!

Irene Adler · March 29, 2012 3:11 pm

Ok, I'll try the ones missing...

8) May it be "The lucky cat"? Or was it just that they sold lucky cats?
9) Gary and Billy, I'm almost positive on this one

Sherlock Holmes · March 29, 2012 9:11 pm

Ok, I'll try and answer as many as I can without looking...although you did say we could research, so I'll go back and do that later, then add my answers:

Canon
1. Dr Joseph Bell was the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. Not sure about an assistant, but I always thought Watson was basically supposed to be ACD himself.
2. Lestrade
3. ??? Apart from the fact that she's not Mrs Hudson...I can't remember
4. The cocaine solution Holmes injects (naughty boy)
5. ??? In the 1800s..? I don't know....I know they have the Sherlock Holmes Museum there now...

BBC
6. ??? Can't remember off hand...
7. ??? This is annoying me...this is from ASIP when John says of course they'll be needing two rooms and Mrs H says don't worry dear there's all sorts round here Mrs SOMEBODY had two married ones!! Damn, just can't remember her name....
8. The Lucky Cat Emporium! Don't know what item appeared in Scandal...a lucky cat perhaps?
9. ???? Don't Know
10. ???? Don't Know

Wholocked · March 30, 2012 3:22 am

Canon
1. Sir Joseph Bell, ACD was his assistant. And also partially Sir Henry Littlejohn
2. Inspecter Lestrade
3. Ah thanks for the link Kaz. Yes, he calls her Mrs Turner in this. Another of ACD's continuity stuff-ups that is made fun of in the BBC shows. I think Gatiss or Moffat talk about it in one of the commentaries actually.
4. Cocaine (and it is definitely canon)
5. There was no address of 221 Baker street when ACD first wrote the stories – the street numbers didn’t go this high. Later, the Abbey National Building Society was located at 221 Baker Street

BBC
6. Henry Fisher
7. Mrs Turner
8. The Lucky Cat – have to answer the second part when I’ve had a chance to re-view Scandal
9. Gary and Billy, I think? Will re-watch it and check
10. Jim Moriarty on Molly Hooper’s blog

Last edited by Wholocked (March 30, 2012 5:48 am)

kazza474 · March 30, 2012 4:52 am

Doing well guys.
Don't forget the easiest way to look through the canon stories is online:
http://archive.org/details/SherlockHolmesComplete

Use the pdf/adobe view and you can "find" a word by clicking on the page & entering it in the "find" window.

m0r1arty · March 30, 2012 10:42 am

That'd be cheating though Kazza!

When do the official answers get posted?

-m0r

kazza474 · March 30, 2012 10:51 am

That's not cheating. Read the first part of the post. My quiz is one to encourage people to read about different things.
It's all about researching and learning more. There's no way people will know all these easily.

Wholocked · April 1, 2012 10:08 pm

I'm stumped on the lucky cat item appearing in Scandal!!! These are great questions Kaz lol

Sherlock Holmes · April 1, 2012 11:46 pm

I watched Scandal tonight and I have to say I didn't notice anything...but then I was probably just seeing and not observing. I have got a couple more answers though...

3. The landlady in Scandal is Mrs Turner
7. The woman next door who has the gay couple is also Mrs Turner!

Wholocked · April 2, 2012 3:06 am

Okay I think I have all of them now.

Canon
1. Sir Joseph Bell, ACD was his assistant. And also partially Sir Henry Littlejohn
2. Inspecter Lestrade
3. Ah thanks for the link Kaz. Yes, he calls her Mrs Turner in this. Another of ACD's continuity stuff-ups that is made fun of in the BBC shows. I think Gatiss or Moffat talk about it in one of the commentaries actually.
4. Cocaine (and it is definitely canon)
5. There was no address of 221 Baker street when ACD first wrote the stories – the street numbers didn’t go this high. Later, the Abbey National Building Society was located at 221 Baker Street

BBC
6. Henry Fisher
7. Mrs Turner
8. The Lucky Cat – a statue on the mantelpiece in 221B during Christmas Scene, as pointed out by tobeornot221b in this post. I've put a [url="http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/drwholocked/20330197141/1/tumblr_m1u0g0EFzA1rs9hrr]screengrab of the two scenes on my Tumblr[/url] if anyone wants to see.
9. Gary and Billy
10. Jim Moriarty on Molly Hooper’s blog

Sherlock Holmes · April 2, 2012 4:55 am

Wow, well done. Those look correct to me, although technically wasn't it:

10. Jim from IT on Molly Hooper's blog (seeing as she was yet to find out he was in fact an international criminal mastermind).

Wholocked · April 2, 2012 6:02 am

True - good distinction

kazza474 · April 6, 2012 1:09 pm

Sorry I am a day late with the answers. Been busy with 'life'.
So looks like you guys were busy searching and reading and scratching your heads!
Anyway here are the answers:

1. Dr. Joseph Bell, and Conan Doyle was his assistant
http://www.siracd.com/work_bell.shtml

2. Lestrade (The Boscombe Valley Mystery)
A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of Scotland Yard.

3. Conan Doyle calls her Mrs Turner.
“When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our landlady had provided, “I must discuss it while I eat, for I have not much time.

4. the cocaine mix he used. First references in A Sign of Four, first chapter ' The Science of Deduction'.
“Which is it to-day?" I asked,—“morphine or cocaine?"
He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. “It
is cocaine," he said,—“a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?"

5. Abbey House http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/221B_Baker_Street

6. Henry Fishguard

7. Mrs Turner

8. Lucky cat emporium & mantlepiece during the Christmas scene (A statue)

9, Garry & Billy

10. Jim Moriarty on Molly's blog
http://www.mollyhooper.co.uk/blog/30march

Here's a pic for #8

Its not very clear, sorry its the best I could get.

Initially I was going to make that question & the answer was going to be 'a lucky cat' but I found that my source for that was just someone being clever.
I recalled seeing/reading about how someone said it must have been a Xmas present but I watched the episode over & over & couldn't find the cat then I went back to where I remembered the comment coming from & saw there was a note attached to the bottom of it.

http://sherlockwithcats.tumblr.com/post/16391412217/look-closely-and-youll-see-sherlocks-christmas

But through all my viewings, I stumbled over that statue that looks just like the ones in the store anyway.

So this week's winner is .......

Wholocked was the closest with a minor error on Henry Fishguard's name. But you all did rather well and I hope you enjoyed the chance to do some detective work of your own.
Sometimes it's not about winning & just knowing things off the top of your head but more about the adventure in seeking the answers!
Maybe I gave you a chance to see things you wouldn't normally have seen.

Now, Wholocked would you like to post the next one?
Just a yes or no posted here will do.
Then we will await more intriguing puzzles.

Remember guys, there don't have to be 10 questions, however many you like & you could choose a certain theme for your puzzle too.
I have a few novel ideas if anyone wants to start preparing one for the future. I won't post them here because that ruins the surprise a bit and we may end up with heaps doing the same thing, lol.

PM me if you want ideas.

Last edited by kazza474 (April 6, 2012 1:10 pm)

Wholocked · April 6, 2012 1:21 pm

I can do a quiz but I won't have time really until Monday or Tuesday so if someone else wants to do one in the meantime that's okay

kazza474 · April 6, 2012 1:30 pm

Well if someone wants to they can. It is a holiday weekend & many may not be online, so guess we will see. Maybe someone has one ready to go?

Sherlock Holmes · April 6, 2012 8:23 pm

I think it would be fine to wait till Monday or Tuesday. A lot of people are probably busy with "normal" stuff too.

Wholocked · April 23, 2012 1:17 am

THERE IS A LUCKY CAT!!!!

(apologies apparently I can't use HTML code so I can't tell it to display smaller)

kazza474 · April 23, 2012 5:07 am

Wholocked wrote:
THERE IS A LUCKY CAT!!!!

No, no , no , no.
That image came from a tumblr account. The edit at the bottom of the caption that was with it explains :
Look closely and you’ll see Sherlock’s Christmas gift to John in the background.

“Should have just got her a lucky cat."

edit: Holy snapping turtles I’m going to be breaking a lot of hearts here,but I photoshopped the cat in guys.
It’s the whole basis of Sherlock With Cats.
Sorry to mislead, I thought the rest of my tumblr would made it apparent that it’s been tampered with.
So to be clear: NOT REAL

It's on the tumblr link I added to the answers just in case someone thought it was real.
http://sherlockwithcats.tumblr.com/post/16391412217/look-closely-and-youll-see-sherlocks-christmas

As I said, at first I thought it was real till I tried finding it in the actual footage; it's not there.

See, just as I suspected since this forum started, people never check the links I post.

Last edited by kazza474 (April 23, 2012 5:08 am)