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Holmes' Untold Cases Trivia Quiz

These are the mysterious 'cases' alluded to in Conan Doyle's immortal Sherlock Holmes stories.

A multiple-choice quiz by tjoebigham. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
tjoebigham

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
39,107

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
1071

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Where did the Giant Rat come from? Hint

Sakhalin

Java

Sumatra

Celebes

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Question 2 of 10

2. Who entered his house, only to never emerge again? Hint

Mr. James Phillimore

Ambrose Bierce

Judge Crater

Agatha Christie

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Question 3 of 10

3. What metal was the Crutch Holmes was involved with made of? Hint

Molybdenum

Silver

Aluminium

Platinum

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Question 4 of 10

4. Who was the Notorious Canary Trainer? Hint

Winslow

Wilson

Winston

Willoughby

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Question 5 of 10

5. Which Colonel supposedly went mad? Hint

Warburton

Sanders

Blimp

Bogey

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which Cutter vanished into a fogbank? Hint

Rebecca

Alicia

Mary Celeste

Rachel

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Question 7 of 10

7. Who was found maddened and staring at a matchbox containing a worm unknown to science? Hint

Dr. Joseph Bell

George Edaldji

Isadora Persano

Oscar Slater

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Question 8 of 10

8. What Cardinal did Holmes assist? Hint

Tosca

Fang

O'Connor

Biggles

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Question 9 of 10

9. One of Holmes's untold 'Affairs' involved him with a Politician, a Lighthouse and what seabird?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 10 of 10

10. What case was first alluded in one story, then became another full-length one?

Answer: (Three Words)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Where did the Giant Rat come from?

Answer: Sumatra

As I said in my introduction, these questions are about the untold cases alluded to in the Holmes stories. The Giant Rat of Sumatra was first mentioned in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire".

2. Who entered his house, only to never emerge again?

Answer: Mr. James Phillimore

Christie DID reappear after a brief absence; Bierce and Crater never were found, they didn't disappear in a house, and, like Christie, they were real!) The disappearance of James Phillimore is referred to in "The Problem of Thor Bridge".

3. What metal was the Crutch Holmes was involved with made of?

Answer: Aluminium

August Derleth made a Solar Pons pastiche from the case, which was referenced in "The Musgrave Ritual".

4. Who was the Notorious Canary Trainer?

Answer: Wilson

Mentioned in the story "Black Peter", this case came to light in John Dickson Carr and Adrian Doyle's "The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes".

5. Which Colonel supposedly went mad?

Answer: Warburton

From "The Engineer's Thumb", this became a fiendish locked-room puzzler by Carr and Doyle.

6. Which Cutter vanished into a fogbank?

Answer: Alicia

Doyle may have had the real-life 'Mary Celeste' in mind (and indeed wrote a non-Holmesian story on it) when alluding to such a craft in "The Problem of Thor Bridge".

7. Who was found maddened and staring at a matchbox containing a worm unknown to science?

Answer: Isadora Persano

Dr. Bell was the real-life teacher whose deductive skills inspired Holmes, and Edaldji and Slater were acquitted of crimes thanks to Doyle. The Persano case (from "The Problem of Thor Bridge") and the Red Leech case (from "The Golden Pince-Nez") were combined in one of Derleth's Solar Pons stories.

8. What Cardinal did Holmes assist?

Answer: Tosca

Did Doyle get the name (mentioned in "The Adventure of Black Peter") from Puccini's opera? (Probably not)

9. One of Holmes's untold 'Affairs' involved him with a Politician, a Lighthouse and what seabird?

Answer: Cormorant

W. R. Duncan Macmillan transported the case, mentioned in "The Veiled Lodger", to Scotland for a delightful Holmes pastiche concerning a missing brooch.

10. What case was first alluded in one story, then became another full-length one?

Answer: The Second Stain

The only one in the whole Holmes canon to be first alluded to by Watson (in "The Adventure of the Yellow Face" and "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"), then become a story itself.

Source: Author tjoebigham

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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