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Are you a Sherlock super sleuth? Take our fun quiz to test your knowledge about Sherlock Holmes, his adversaries and adventures...

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Are you a Sherlock super sleuth?

Take our fun quiz to test your knowledge about Sherlock Holmes, his adversaries and adventures...

Uncover the mystery

1 In what year did Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson move into 221B?

The answer is 1881 - after been introduced to each other by their mutual acquaintance Stamford, they met the following day to inspect the rooms at 221B Baker Street. Dr Watson moved in that very evening, and Sherlock followed him the next morning.

2 Where did Sherlock and Watson first meet?

The answer is St Bartholomew's Hospital - Dr Watson and an old acquaintance Stamford run into each other at the Criterion Bar in Piccadilly. In the enthusiasm of the moment, Watson invites Stamford for lunch at the Holborn, in the course of which he tells Stamford that he is looking for lodgings at a reasonable price. Stamford reveals that knows another man also looking for rooms, so that afternoon they make their way to St Bart's Hospital to meet with this man - Sherlock Holmes.

3 In which adventure did Sherlock meet his rival Irene Adler?

The answer is the story 'A Scandal in Bohemia', published in July 1891 - Irene Adler is the most distinguished female character in the Sherlock Holmes stories, primarily because she is the only woman to ever outsmart the great detective. Watson describes Holmes' opinion of her as follows: "To Sherlock Holmes she is always 'the' woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex".

4 What treasure does Sherlock find in 'The Musgrave Ritual'?

The answer is the crown - Holmes believed the crown belonged to King Charles I of England, who had been overthrown and executed in 1649 during the English Civil War. The crown had alledgedly been hidden by the Royalists to keep it safe for his successor, and the 'ritual' was a guide to retrieving this important symbol. Holmes theorised that the original holder of the ritual had died before teaching his son about the ritual's significance. It had thus become nothing more than a quaint custom for more than 200 years. Following the case, Musgrave is allowed, surprisingly, to keep the crown, but only after paying the Government a significant sum of money.

5 What was the first Sherlock Holmes story to be published?

The answer is 'A Study in Scarlet' - it was first published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in November 1887, after many previous rejections.

6 Who is always referred in the stories as 'the Napoleon of Crime'?

The answer is Professor Moriarty - as Sherlock describes him in 'The Final Problem': “He is the Napoleon of Crime, Watson. He is the organiser of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows every quiver of each of them.”

7 In which story does Holmes come back from the dead?

The answer is 'The Adventure of the Empty House' - this story explains all that has happened to Sherlock since Watson last saw him in Switzerland three years previously.

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8 Which kind of animal swallowed the 'blue carbuncle'?

The answer is a goose - the blue carbuncle was a rare blue stone belonging to the Countess of Morcar. It had been stolen five days earlier from her room at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Commissionaire Peterson had found a discarded Christmas goose, but since it was in danger of going off and the owner could not be traced, Sherlock Holmes told him to take it home to his family. Peterson’s wife found the stone in the goose's insides when she was preparing it for dinner.

9 What was the 'speckled band'?

The answer is a venomous snake - in the story of 'The Speckled Band', Holmes and Watson solve the mystery of a young woman, Helen Stoner - who is convinced her stepfather is trying to kill her. Concealing themselves in her room, Holmes and Watson uncover the stepfather's plan to set a dangerous snake - an Indian swamp adder - on Miss Stoner to bite and poison her.

10 Where did Sherlock keep his tobacco?

The answer is in the toe of a Persian slipper on the mantelpiece, as mentioned in stories 'The Musgrave Ritual', The Naval Treaty,' and 'The Empty House'.

11 Which forensic technique does Sherlock use to solve the mystery of 'The Engineer's Thumb'?

The answer is fingerprint analysis.

12 What sum is Mr Jabez Wilson paid weekly by the 'Red-Headed League'?

The answer is £4 - in the story 'The Red-Headed League', Mr Jabez Wilson is conned by a newspaper advertisement offering a red-headed male a salary of £4 per week to undertake basic clerical work - in fact a cunning ruse to get Mr Wilson out of his property while criminals attempted to access his shop.

Elementary, my dear Watson!

You scored /!

100 %: You are a real-life Sherlock!

Above 10 correct answers: You are at Dr Watson level


Fewer than 10 correct answers : You are at Inspector Lestrade level


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