We’re revisiting old favorites in our story choices for this year, which meant our March meeting was devoted to “The Red-Headed League.” Here’s the quiz we took, which is not about the story, but inspired by it. Every answer in the quiz is the title of an entry in the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica that Mr. Jabez Wilson had definitely copied out; in other words, they are all found between A and Attica (which is the furthest entry he specifically mentions) and were considered important enough to get entries. Some are easy, but a few are tricky. If you want to take it the way the folks at the meeting did, then consult no references. You can find the answers here.
REDH Encyclopaedia Britannica Trivia Quiz
by Janice M. Eisen
All answers are the names of entries in the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica that Jabez Wilson copied before the dissolution of the League.
Each correct answer is worth 2 points; if a question asks for multiple answers, each one is worth 2 points. There is also a bonus question worth an additional 5 points, for a maximum of 35 points.
- This animal’s name translates into English as “ground-pig.”
- These three men, all members of the same family, played roles in U.S. history of the 18th and early 19th centuries important enough to earn all of them Britannica entries. (3 answers)
- This type of weapon plays an crucial role in both “The Final Problem” and “The Empty House.”
- These two U.S. states were still only territories when the 9th edition was published. (2 answers)
- The assassination of one of these would be the spark setting off a worldwide calamity.
- A young lady from this town had her praises sung by many a young man involved in that calamity.
- This Roman Emperor is best known for a classic work of philosophy. [Note: Because the ancient Romans had complicated and obscure naming conventions, his listing was alphabetized in the Britannica under a different name from the one he is best known by.]
- This French town gave its name to a type of wool tapestry, behind one of which a Shakespearean hero thought he was killing a rat.
- Some Sherlockian scholars argue that certain of the later Holmes stories were actually written by the Literary Agent, not by Dr. Watson; in other words, they would move them from the Canon into the ______________________________.
- “The wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney” is an example of this literary device, also known as personification.
- For 5 bonus points, identify which of the Master’s adventures included this poetic flourish of Watson’s.
- The miners in Vermissa Valley would have been familiar with this fossil fuel.
- Not the family who made Holmes’s violin, but the last name of a family of Italian luthiers of equivalent greatness.
Please do not post answers in the comments, although requests for clarification are OK.
The Noble and Most Singular Order of the Blue Carbuncle 
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