JessieBlackwood

The phone box is the one at Barts, it's become a bit of a shrine. Somewhere there are photos of it with close -ups of the post it notes with "I believe in Sherlock" and "Moriarty was real" on them. If I can find the link I'll post it here.

Went to see the Hobbit the other day with my sons, and I loved the riddle scene with Golum. Now those riddles were good, not impossible to work out either. Anglo Saxon riddles are interesting in an historical context too, but you need to understand something of Saxon history to key into some of them while others are still rediculously simple even now. Riddling is a clever learning tool, a way to see the world in a different way and a way to keep the brain agile. We've been doing stuff like this for centuries. No sense in stopping now...

Well done Carol. When I first heard it I spent ages working it out before I realised... Dunno what that says about me...

And for my next trick... You enter a deserted house late at night. Inside there is an oil lamp, a gas fire and a stove full of wood. You have only one match, however, so which do you light first? You probably already know this one.

Well done to Undead Medic...

Okay then, new one. A football scarf, four buttons and a carrot are found in a field. Nobody dropped them. How did they get there?

I shall put mine in a spoiler so you can read if you wish.

A man lives on the top floor of an apartment block. Every morning he goes down in the elevator to the ground floor, gets out, goes to work. Every evening he comes home, gets back in the elevator and goes to the tenth floor, gets out and walks up the stairs the rest of the way to his apartment, unless he has someone else in the lift with him, or it has been raining. Why would this be?

Think I have it.

Logic puzzles mean keeping it simple. There is usually no other info that you need to come up with the answer, you just need to use the clues. Best not to add anything that the puzzle doesn't refer to. You just have to come up with the best explanation for the available evidence. At least, very happy to stand corrected if anyone cna think of a better explanation but this sort of deduction is very Sherlockian.

Well done Carol.

I have one for you. Christine works in a grocers. When she was born she was 6lb 2oz. She is now 19 years old, 5'7" tall, blond and a 34/28/36 figure. What does she weigh now? If you can't get this then there is something wrong somewhere...

He choked on it? Either that or he was on medication that reacted badly. Have heard the first two before so likewise shall not answer those.

Having read this book I can say I enjoyed it and found it to be a good read.

So what is with the "Rat, Wedding, Bow" thing that Moffat and Gatiss have uttered? No doubt whatever we come up with, they'll have done something different. Immediate thoughts are that wedding has to be John and Mary, and bow pertains to His Last Bow, but I am 100% certain that's what they expect us to think and have done something completely different. What if Sherlock has found someone to marry? What would that do to John? Any ideas there, folks?

As he is my hero, I have to comment on what might happen to Greg. Although the Chief Super was a jerk, he was only doing his job, and the police don't consult amateurs. Sherlock is not qualified to stand as an expert despite his observational skills. If there was an official investigation, it might show that he had nothing to do with the crimes, but Lestrade could find himself suspended on full pay pending the outcome. He would at the very least find himself reprimanded, and possibly demoted to Sergeant, a level below. I am thinking fiction here, though, not real life. I suspect this would, were it real, be a dismissal offence. In our tale, I hope it doesn't happen. Although Rupert isn't in every episode, he cuts a good figure as Lestrade and should be retained. The original Holmes had more than one DI to refer to though. Apart from Lestrade, there were Inspectors Gregory, Merrivale, Montgomery, Patterson, Morton, Youghal, MacKinnon, McDonald, Lanner, Hopkins, Hill, Gregson, Forrester, Forbes, Brown, Bradstreet, Baynes, Barton and Athelney Jones of the Yard alone. Who knows if they have designs on replacing our Greg. I really, really hope not though. Please God don't let Sherlock fail to take out the assassin targetting Greg! I don't think I could cope with that. I love Greg Lestrade's ordinary facade. He is the typical copper, a good man, methodical but faced with some things even he struggles with. He knows Sherlock is good at what he does and saves them precious time. Greg uses every resource at his disposal, including people. He is a pragmatic man, kind and dedicated. He sees Sherlock for what he could be, including all his flaws. He accepts John, although he is wary. After all, Sherlock isn't known for being WITH anyone. Lestrade isn't a man to mess with either. He's also more than a bit BAMF with a gun in his hand (Baskerville). I hope we don't lose him and that Rupert is available to play him next year. By then a lot of water will have passed beneath that bridge and we'll all be waiting to see what happens.

I believe Mycroft should know that Sherlock is alive. Would like to see a development in the dynamic between Mycroft and John. If he knew, which he did in the book, then John would be both hurt (Neither brother trusted him to act) and disappointed (Sherlock didn't trust him). It would bring Sherlock and Mycroft closer and drive Mycroft and John further apart (not that they were close to begin with).

Anyone think there's also a slight quirky similarity in the Downey Jnr Sherlock film music, it dances about eccentrically and completely fits the characters?

I sympathised with John the other day, B&Q's autotills are a screwup. First the one I was using refused to recognise I had scanned anything, then it told me to take the item I had scanned and rescan it. I did. Then the next item needed the assistant, to verify my age for paint remover. Okay, it has to do that, it has solvent in it. Next item it decided it didn't like either and wouldn't recognise the bar code. It then decided it would recognise it and told me to put it on the bagging area. I already had. It told me this again until the assistant came up and pressed a button to stop it. It then wouldn't recognise my card in the reader. I took it out again. It told me to take it out after I had done. It then told me to put it back again. I did... you get the picture. Snafu. My car has gone wrong too. Battery has died. Either this is the battery that has died or the alternator has packed in. I hope it is just the battery. Otherwise it might cost an arm and a leg and possibly a few internal organs as well. Might have to pawn something... The joys of motoring...

Hmm, try two years unemployed. That did suck. Hope it isn't as long for you Evig'. If you need any help with the CV then please ask. I am now employed and still cannot afford to go to conventions though. Now that is a rant you should not get me started on. I HATE the new style of convention. It's pay pay pay all the way. We need the old-fashioned for-charity style of con where guests expenses were met and nothing else, no money for photos, no paying for autographs, nothing but talks, competitions and shows, fashion parade and disco saturday evening, the good stuff. I miss those conventions from the 80s and 90s, the smaller intimate convention which could still pull decent guests but didn't cost an arm and a leg to go. This money-grabbing thing is against everything I believe in. It is now no longer for charity and has turned into big business for the people who run them. Name me one convention recently that has given it's proceeds to charity and I will be glad to stand corrected.

here we go again. Another pattern. I have to say Castle. I do not like some of the characters in Merlin... sorry... Castle or NCIS?

Barker

Elephant

Actually, following on this train of thought, Ben seems to be playing Sherlock as if he were a rather tall and annoying ten year old. I've heard the quote in one fanfiction (not mine although I used a version of it) that it was like living with a rather tall and annoying toddler. Sherlock is like a child. He hasn't learned social graces, he is rude, a show-off, challenging, lazy and cocky. How he speaks to Donovan is like a verbal version of pulling her pigtails because she called him names. He likes John, because John likes him. Lestrade is like a father or teacher figure who always seems a little non-plussed as to how to deal with him. Mycroft is the older brother who hates little brother because little brother is annoying and Mummy expects Mycroft to be the responsible one. Sherlock displays all the wonder of a child where certain subjects are concerned. He forgets the important facts in favour of more interesting ones. Who cares if the earth goes round the sun as long as he has crimes to solve.

To me this is one of the glaring differences between the old and the new. In the original stories, Sherlock does not tust women but he is never less than gentle toward them in his dealings with them. He is careful and gentlemanly at all times. This modern Sherlock takes the Asperger's route, the kind of man who is seemingly callous but who in actual fact doesn't pick up on social signals. I agree though that his attitude to Molly was cruel. I wonder if by doing this, they were establishing the attitude toward women that comes to a head with Irene. It makes Sherlock's attitude to her all the more contrasting. Actually, he does not deny being gay, if you notice. He merely puts off John's supposed advances by saying he is married to his work, not that he is 'not gay'. I think he simply dislikes women, dislikes any women who get between him and his only friend, and doesn't trust women in general. Depending on the person, he displays more or less dislike, the same as we all might feel but few of us actually show. He is quite cruel to Sally in Study in Pink, but then she deserves it to some extent. He is alright with Mrs Hudson but does tend to use her a lot. With Sarah he is dismissive until she comes up with something useful. In general, women confound him.