News

Baker Street may have been like an oven in August, as Watson told us in “The Adventure of the Cardboard Box,” but how hot will the August meeting of the John H. Watson Society be at high noon CST, Sunday, August 24th? Will a Victorian Londoner from 1891 die of heat stroke or Moran’s bullet?

To find out, sign up for this month’s Zoom meeting and pop on come Sunday! Here’s the link to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/AbFzzEFzRTqaJGuX2BETeg

Hello, Bullpups and assorted Sherlockians! We regret to inform you that the annual treasure hunt will not take place this year. More on this matter from our Treasure Hunt Master, Bullpup Hector (Rich Krisciunas):

The Treasure Hunt 2025 will be postponed due to unforeseeable circumstances. The Treasure Hunt Master, Rich Krisciunas, was preparing another strenuous test of Sherlockian and Watsonian knowledge but had completed only 25 questions, thinking the Treasure Hunt started in October, and he also needed to come up with this year’s cipher. 

He was concerned about complaints from some Hunters that the cipher was becoming too difficult to solve. Backward lettering, fourth word in a sequence, “why does it have to be so hard? You’re supposed to be my friend, can’t you give me a clue?” were messages he received in e-mails every August.

This year, the Treasure Hunt Master spent too much time trying to come up with a simpler cipher so that, for instance, if you were a Sherlockian friend who lived in Texas, you could figure it out. One example was, “Can you decipher the following cipher with a phrase concerning Watson in the Canon?

 “If YOU HAVE a map of the world that shows places where you have BEEN to or thought about visiting IN the last five years not including AFGHANISTAN or Italy. Cross your t and dot your I.  Do you think you could PERCEIVE the names of three countries without much effort?”

Nine test subjects figured out the solution quickly, but one subject said it was too difficult. So, back to the drawing board.

Then the Treasure Hunt Master was reminded about posting the 2025 Treasure Hunt on the usual August 1 start date. His response was, “Ooops. Not October 1?” What to do? 

I apologize for any disappointment, although the TH Master believes one Hunter will be relieved, and at least there are 25 questions already prepared.

Therefore, it is with great disappointment that this year’s Hunt will be postponed until next year in 2026, in August (it’s already in my calendar).

We look forward to renewing the treasure hunt next year, and we at the JHWS remain grateful to Rich for all the work he puts into the hunt each year!

Hello, everyone! There have been many sign-ups for membership in the JHWS in the past month, and I (Madeline, “Boswell,” “Buttons,” oy) have fallen behind in processing the new members and sending you your welcome emails. I offer my sincerest apologies. I am currently slammed with genuinely serious issues in my personal life at the moment, but I am going to do my best to get caught up soon! We appreciate each and every new bullpup, and we absolutely want you to feel welcome here.

In the meantime, please register for our next meeting! https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mnOD13oKQAWAZasmJvr4mA

The July of 1891 sat in the middle of John H. Watson’s worst summer at that point in his life, and the July meeting of the John H. Watson Society promises trouble all its own, as we reflect upon that time, see what the remnants of the Moriarty organization were up to, and discuss matters both Watsonian and non.

The date will be Sunday, July 27th. The hour will be high noon CST. The code to pass the gate will be:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mnOD13oKQAWAZasmJvr4mA

Join us, won’t you? You might survive the experience.

Sunday, June 22th, at noon CST, the John H. Watson Society will have its monthly Zoom gathering, with all of the usual bull pup stuff and nonsense, as the London 1891 scenario continues to play out and unforeseen events may or may not occur!

Here’s the link to sign up: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/h7i9uNzdRyympm6irJ6O6g

May 4th may be past and Moriarty may be gone, but the tremors are still rocking the John H. Watson Society’s ongoing 1891 side-game! Come see which Londoner Moran took aim at between meetings and much more this Sunday, May 25th, at 1 PM CST.

Here’s the registration link!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/RTbAhoFnTt2M_msoJB9uGA

Moriarty’s minions have conspired to keep several of our members away on Sunday, April 27, 2025 when the John H. Watson Society will meet again on Zoom. As you learned if you attended our March meeting, a great game has begun. If you missed that in March, you’ll learn about it at this next meeting and get to find out if Colonel Moran has already eliminated one of the Londoners who are trying to finish taking down Moriarty’s organization since he and Sherlock Holmes perished at Reichenbach Falls.

There will be other fun to be had, as well as the usual random chat, for those who can make it at our regular time of noon CST on April 27. Here’s the link to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/7JZ_Br25S9Onioz1Q1Qk1g

Have you ever played a game sometimes called “Mafia,” sometimes called “Werewolf,” or watched some version of the reality TV show “Traitors?” If you have, you know the basic concept, that a community has been secretly infiltrated by murderous characters, and must come together to remove the threat all the while their citizens are being slowly picked off, either by the baddies or their own misguided attempts at justice.

As a part of our 2025 meetings, March through October, the John H. Watson Society will be playing its own version of this game, where we’ll interrogate our members for Moriarty employ during meetings, while in between said meetings, Moriarty’s agents will be working to take over the society for their own evil purposes. Our usual diverse meeting activities will also be going on, some tying to this campaign, and some just random fun. But a few minutes of each meeting will be dedicated to dealing with the Agents of Moriarty among us. Who are those agents? How murderous are they?

Come to our March meeting to find out — and if you have to miss March, don’t worry. We’ll be bringing more folks in as the meetings progress. Here’s the link for said March meeting and our launch of the game:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jNTydH9mRIuYij9g-I8Leg

We’re moving our March meeting back a week, due to the Dayton conference, but that also means we’re going to have more to talk about. Main program still to be announced, but we wanted to get the link out to you early. Sunday, March 30th at 12:00 PM CST will be the time and Zoom will be the place. Hope to see you there!

Here’s the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jNTydH9mRIuYij9g-I8Leg

As you may have heard and seen demonstrated at our last meeting, the February Zoom gathering of bull pups and friends will be a series of presentations by Watsonians who don’t know what they’re talking about! (Well, not yet anyway.) In the manner of presentation called “Powerpoint karaoke” or “battledecks,” our presenters will be giving talks about John H. Watson based on a series of slides they have never seen before, on a topic that they only find out about when the talk starts. Are you up for the challenge? Would you rather just watch someone else attempt to leap that abyss? Come to the meeting!

Sunday, February 23rd, at noon Central type, over the usual communication channel, with the registration link provided below. Speaker names will be drawn out of a deerstalker from those who volunteer at the start, and the best of the talks will make it on to the Watsonian Weekly podcast for that week. And, of course, there will be the normal John H. Watson Society stuff and nonsense. Hope to see you there!

That all-important link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/p_wslrzaTAaRlmtAhXkpqA