Sherlock Riddle

[cbphysics]

Hi everyone!

This is kind of a strange question, so hopefully it'll be right at home in the miscellaneous musings forum!

 I'm trying to solve the following Sherlock Holmes related riddle:

 

"Deduction, Watson,

Deduction, Watson,

If there are four,

Then it must be three,

For the number three,

Is certainly the key."

 

Some Background:

TL;DR version - This answer to the riddle is related to some activity my friends and I will be doing with our church this summer (it's usually mission/wilderness/teambuilding oriented).

Long version:

Every year, my youth group goes on a summer trip, the location of which is kept a complete secret from us until a certain deadline. Before the deadline, our leaders usually give us a riddle to the location of our trip. Specifically, one of our leaders, a physicist who's an avid Sherlock Holmes reader, enjoys coming up with these riddles. They're always very difficult and in the past have including things like ASCII code. Additionally, they have transitioned in recent years from codes to more textual riddles. For example, the riddle last year was "I'm famous for what I do not have" and the answer was Costa Rica (Costa Rica doesn't have a military). Two years ago, the clues were "ranch dressing" and "Stephen King," and the answer was Estes Park, Colorado (Stephen King wrote The Shining at the Stanely Hotel in Estes Park, and ranch dressing refers to the hidden valley ski area in Estes Park). This year, despite the collaboration of our entire high school group, we can't get anything out of this riddle, and we would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.  Thanks!

 

[Caya]

Hello cbphysics and welcome to the forum!

 

That riddle's a poser. Only thing I could think of atm was mathematics, like, you differentiate x^4 to 4*x^3 , so the exponent must be three if it was four originally (I realized I'm quite bad at doing this in English - I hope it's still somewhat clear). No idea if that's what he meant or even if so, what kind of hint it would be. Arguably it could point to a tangent of some sort?

[Arcadia]

Hi there CB! Hmmm... I'm afraid the only thing Holmes related that comes to my mind is The Sign of Four, or the Sherlock episode the Sign of Three. But what those could possibly point to is beyond me. Anyone else?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Or -- a "key" could be an island. At least that's a place.

 

Do you happen to know if your leader watches Sherlock? Or is he strictly a Conan Doyle fan?

[cbphysics]

@caya - wow, that's really impressive, but generally the riddles aren't quite that technically oriented (they're usually designed do anyone can figure them out - in theory.

@arcadia - I'd thought of that too, though I'm not sure where it might lead.

@Carol - interesting idea, though I'm not sure because we've been told the riddle's for our activity, not the location we're going to. And, to answer your question, I'm pretty sure my youth leader is strictly a Conan Doyle fan.

 

I also forgot to mention that we were thinking that deduction could either refer to holme's deductive reasoning or possibly deduction as in subtraction - or maybe both. Also, we had some hints that indicate this activity that the riddle's too might be water related, so keep that in mind.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Hi cbphysics,

 

Welcome to the forum, deerstalker is optional, but orange blanket is recommended.

 

Sounds like your group leaders are fun people.

 

As for your riddles, if you are referring to activity, could it be beach volleyball?

As far as I know, regular beach volleyball consists of two teams with two players each, with total 4 people. However, there is a three person volleyball, in which each team consists of one player, and then there is a third player. This 3rd player actually plays for both teams, he/she does crossover on the court where the ball is, except during initial serve.

Ideally, your activity place is somewhere with beach and sea.

 

The other possibility that I can think of is triathlon, there is a quadrathlon, but it's not as popular and common as triathlon. Triathlon is great for group activity and team building; the most common legs are swimming, cycling and running. However it could consists of any suitable three legs, like combination of kayaking, wall climbing or others as well. If your activity is conducted somewhere by/in a outward bound location/organization, these facilities are common.

 

Not sure if those make sense, I am not familiar with original ACD so I base nothing on that. I am quite suspicious with the repetition of "Deduction, Watson". It's probably a stretch but kind of fits the role of 3rd player volleyball, or some sort of relay sports (that could also be part of triathlon).

[cbphysics]

Yeah, our leaders are pretty awesome!

 

The volleyball idea is interesting, and I hadn't thought of a triathlon! Hmm..

[cbphysics]

Also, I just recently picked up on something: the third and fourth lines of the riddles (If there are two, then it must be three), are formatted as an if/then statement, which is a form of deductive reasoning.  I doubt this is a coincidence, but I still can't figure what it might mean.  Do you guys have any ideas?

[Caya]

Good question - there are ways to make a loop (speaking of the programming variant here) count down, so four would be followed by three, like (trying for pseudocode here, and excuse my sloppy style, I can't program my way out of a paper bag),

 

i=4;

FOR (i>0)

{print "not finished yet </br>";

 i=i-1;}

print "finished";

 

This would give you four times "not finished yet" followed by one "finished".

 

You could conceivably write this as an IF-THEN command as well (like, define i as four, IF i bigger than zero, THEN [do something] and subtract one from i, ELSE stop the operation) but that would be comparatively clumsy (loops are usually handled by for, repeat, while and similar commands).

 

How this could refer to an activity or location, though, no idea, sorry.

[cbphysics]

Wow, thanks for going to the trouble of explaining all that! That could be a really good lead, because the guy who came up with the riddle is a software developer by trade. We did get a previous clue that also referred to our activity, but no one's been able to make any sense of it: GA GA GB CC. Any chance that could be related to programming?

[Arcadia]

GA GA GB CC .. the first thing that popped in my mind was musical notes. And C is the third letter. Sorry, that's all I got... :(

[Caya]

If the B weren't in there, that could be a genetical code sequence - alas, it'd have to be a T for that, and besides they're usually written in triplets not pairs. Country codes / suffixes for websites maybe? Like GB being Great Britain and such.

[Van Buren Supernova]

GA GA GB CC, could it be 8896?

 

8896 is some song with this lyrics

We're running down roads and crossing track stones

Pay for the ticket, just enjoy the circus

Run away another day

I am not familiar with the song so I can't tell you more.

 

Could GA GA GB CC also means 71717233?

There seems to be some kind of phone number tracking service through that number variation.

 

It could also be computer organization code but I'm not familiar with those.

[Arcadia]

This would be from Sherlock, not from Doyle (I assume?) but I woke up in the middle of the night thinking "skip code." First word, then every 3rd? (Thus the significance of the number 3?) Or maybe the 4th word first, then every 3? Or maybe every 3rd something else?

[Van Buren Supernova]

Any chances your activity or church has something to do with Georgia?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Any chances your activity or church has something to do with Georgia?

The US state, you mean. Or the country Gabon? (Irrelevant fact for the day: Georgia the country is GE.)

[Van Buren Supernova]

Any Georgia, to increase the possibility :p

[cbphysics]

@Arcadia - Oh, I'm gonna have to try that!  That could definitely lead somewhere.

And to everyone who was speculating about Georgia - it's a possibility, though I doubt we're going to Gabon (but you never know, we do go international sometimes.  But while we may be going there, it isn't the answer to the clue, because we've been told that both clues tell us the activity we'll be doing (so they may both have the same answer)!

[cbphysics]

I found out tonight that we'll be receiving the third and final clue via e-mail (there've been insinuations that it's kind of complex) this week, so I'll let you guys know what it is as soon as I get it.  We'll find out the location of our trip on February 5, around 3:30 CST, so things are getting exciting.  Thanks for all your help so far, I never expected so many thoughtful responses!

[cbphysics]

We received the final clue tonight:

"Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them: 'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.'"

(Genesis 9:1)

The verse was followed by a picture of the earth.

Oceans fill the earth, so I'm wondering if we're doing something on the oceans.  It would also put the riddle into context, because there are four oceans (historically, though many people now recognize 5), with three major ones, or, alternatively, three that border the U.S.  Maybe we're going on a cruise?  That's not our youth group's usual type of activity, though.  Ideas for things we could do on the ocean?  Or maybe how the first clue (GA GA GB CC) could fit in?

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I doubt it's the oceans, since no matter how fruitful Noah may have been, he could not have increased the oceans. I suspect it has more to do with human life and/or other animals and/or plants under Noah's stewardship.

 

There was another clue about deduction, which is the opposite of increasing.

[cbphysics]

Sorry, I didn't explain myself.  You're right of course that Noah couldn't increase the oceans; I was looking at the "fill the earth" part, and oceans fill the earth.  It would also explain why the earth picture was included at the end of the clue, because oceans cover over 70% of the earth's surface.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I remain skeptical. ;)

 

What would GA GA GB CC sound like as guitar chords (assuming that CC even *is* a proper chord)? Or just as eight notes (with notes paired up just to confuse matters)? Is it a recognizable tune?

[Arcadia]

Well, we will hope for your sake that your activity is not to be fruitful and increase in number. Not unless they marry you off first, then I guess it's okay. :D
 
Ahem, where was I ... For what it's worth, I note that "c" rhymes with "sea".
 
And those pairs of letters could be map coordinates ... but what map? And why repeat the same pair of coordinates twice? Hmmm, think I'm on the wrong track.
 
"Increase in number" ... that sort of points back to four and three again. "Fill the earth".... color in the picture of the earth?
 
Ummmm... sorry, that's all I've got. :(

[Van Buren Supernova]

Which one of your clue is correct?

 

If there are four,

Then it must be three

Or

If there are two,

Then it must be three?

 

Because you mention both, or is it different clues/both are applicable?

 

 

"Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them: 'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.'"

I suppose this have something to do with procreation. But I think it's not for human, nope! There are lots of them, and certainly not the activity they ask you to do. :D

 

But, how if.. it's procreations of what are necessary? Noah's Ark, I know a foundation doing animal rescues, for this case it could deal more with Wildlife, probably a sanctuary, wildlife sanctuary for volunter works or somekind of camp, educational but fun awareness program.

 

If there are two, then it must be three, and three is the key.

Survival of species. Helping endangered or wild animal. Three is the next generation created by two. The key of continuity. Wildlife/animal sanctuary. Release turtle, build habitat, awareness program, make artificial reef, could be anything.

 

Reason why I guessed Georgia.

I know Carol said GE, but I saw multiple times it's referred as GA. And Georgia has a couple of retreat centers near a lake with camp facilities (I am not sure where you get the water idea from), lake could be a water body as well, as it's possible for water sport/activity. Sometimes it's preferred because it's generally safer than open ocean. B could it be referred to Baptist? CC could it be some kind of conference center or community center, some kind of facilities that can accommodate your program in those retreat site. Those kind of camping, bonfire, trail, treasure hunt etc.

 

I'm quite sure you are not going to Gabon. It would be too tedious to arrange, especially big group, visa, vaccinations (esp yellow fever because no every clinic provides it), so it should be planned way before, and it could be very costly.

 

 

 

That's about it. Sleep. Have. To.