Elementary Watson: Have You Met the Good Doctor? Quiz

Answer: The University of London

Watson tells us so in the very first sentence of the very first Holmes and Watson adventure reported, the novel "A Study in Scarlet". That 1878 graduation date is extremely helpful to Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts. Along with the date of one of Holmes's first solo cases, it allows them to conclude that both Holmes and Watson were active young men when they met, Watson probably between 28 and 31 and a couple of years older than Holmes. Conan Doyle himself studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Answer: Afghanistan

Watson's time as a fighting army field surgeon was apparently brief and full of misfortune. By the time he made it out to India to join his first regiment there, the second Afghan war had started, the regiment had already departed for Afghanistan, and Watson and others had to follow as best they could to Kandahar. Once there, Watson was separated from his own unit and lent to another, where he was severely wounded, and ultimately invalided back to India at a hospital in Peshawar.

After further misadventures there, Watson was sent home to England, and soon made his way to London, where he had been for some weeks before meeting Holmes. Watson's army adventures are recounted in the most detail in "A Study in Scarlet".

Answer: Because he needed a flatmate

Soon after being invalided back to England, Watson came to London with nine month's severance pay to his name and moved into a private hotel. After a while there, he realized that he had been spending his money "much more freely than he ought" and he would have to either leave London or reduce expenses.

When an old medical associate told him that he knew of a somewhat eccentric young man who was looking for someone to share lodgings, Watson wanted to meet him.

Answer: John

Although Holmes always calls him Watson, the novels are captioned as being from the files of "John H. Watson, M.D." It's typical of Conan Doyle's ambivalence about the Holmes stories that, in "The Man With the Twisted Lip", he apparently forgets Watson's given name and has Watson's wife refer to him as "James." Dietz & Watson is an American purveyor of cold-cut meats, although I now confidently expect to see Dietson topping the baby name lists.

Answer: A Study in Scarlet

"A Study in Scarlet" is the name of Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, and the name that Watson (or perhaps his literary agent) concocted to describe the case of the mysterious death in Lauriston Gardens. To Watson's sulky annoyance, Holmes was neither grateful nor impressed.

Incidentally, because Doyle wasn't very consistent about describing trifling details of Watson's life (like when he was married vs. single, at what time of year his wedding(s) occurred, to whom, and how many times), seriously geeky Sherlockians question whether the Lauriston Gardens case was actually the first case in which Watson participated. Some argue that "The Speckled Band", published in 1892 set in 1883, came first. My own equally geeky and unscientific calculations say the Lauriston Gardens murder occurred either in March 1881 or, more likely, March 1882.

Answer: Watson

Forget Hollywood's paunchy, walrus-mustachioed old duffer in country tweeds: Conan Doyle's Watson was a player, if not a downright rake. Holmes says in "The Case of the Blanched Soldier" that "women have seldom been an attraction to me," whereas it is Watson who takes in every detail of the female clients' dress (and figure, and ankles), speaks of having "an experience of women that extends over many nations and three separate continents", wins the heart and hand of a client, and to whom Holmes says, in "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman", "With your natural advantages Watson, every lady is your helper and accomplice... ." And then there is the big question of just how many wives Watson really had. Definitely a player.

Answer: His service revolver

When Holmes asks Watson if he is armed, Watson generally replies that he has his stick -- a regular walking stick, not a sword stick, alas. Watson himself seems to feel that he and his stick are a match for any danger. Holmes nonetheless frequently asks that Watson bring a pistol, so Watson takes his service revolver from his desk drawer, slips it into his pocket, and they are off.

Answer: Miss Mary Morstan

Mary Morstan came to Holmes and Watson to request that they accompany her to a strange assignation and help recover her possible inheritance. Watson describes her in rather nauseating ilyric detail as twenty-seven, blonde, petite, dainty, a model of quiet taste, and just the right combination of (moderate) intelligence and soulful, trembling, womanly fragility..

He is contemplating marriage after the first meeting, and they are engaged by the end of the book. Surprisingly, this paragon of womanly perfection appears in person in only one other story, if it is indeed she who is married to Watson in "The Man with the Twisted Lip", and Watson never refers to her again as anything but "my wife".

Answer: That Watson had spent the morning with a red-haired lady who had been a circus performer in her childhood

The age and quality of the watch, the initials on it, the numerous scratches on the case and near the key slot, and several pawnbrokers' marks lead Holmes to conclude that the watch, originally belonging to Watson's father, had come to Watson at the death of an older brother, whose carelessness and alcoholism were indicated by the scratches, and whose frittering of what wealth he had by the fact that the watch had been in and out of pawn. Watson was not amused, although when convinced that Holmes hadn't been spying on him he was impressed.

Answer: The Hound of the Baskervilles

It turns out Watson doesn't have to go it entirely alone, and Holmes is typically condescending about the progress Watson makes, but Watson nonetheless acquits himself bravely. "How Watson Learned the Trick" is a very short story which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hand wrote into a miniature book for Queen Mary's Doll House's library. It's a parody, with Holmes at his most contemptuous.