The Cryptic Riddle Has Been Solved! Here is the Solution, Winner & Runner Up!

I am very proud to announce that after 48 hours of brainstorming, reading and re-reading the riddles, we have a winner! Over 300 people submitted their brilliant guesses and explanations behind them. However, in the end, only two people named the correct person and properly deconstructed the cryptic question. Thanks to everyone who worked on this riddle, the response has been wonderful. You guys are amazing!

Elena (@ElenaKSays) and I both worked hard on these puzzles to ensure that they were both difficult and possible. We put an enormous amount of thought into every line, word and phrase. The breakdown of the riddle and the explanation of the answer will likely surprise many. Yet, we must give credit where it is due…

Congratulations To Our Winner:
Laura Anderson!

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The Canadian Sherlock

Laura was the first person to correctly solve the questions. She will now be going live with me at the end of my upcoming live Mentalism & Deduction Web Event! When I notified her that she had won her response was “The puzzle was amazing. I haven’t spent that long on a puzzle in a VERY long time and it was amazing learning so many things about Sherlock Holmes and the characters that inspired him.” I could not have asked for a better answer: in solving the riddle, Laura discovered new and wonderful things about Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle & Undershaw!

Both she and the runner up took two days, and two entries each, to finally arrive at the correct answer. In the end the two correct submissions were only 17 minutes apart!

So I must take a minute and thank the runner up:

Special Thanks To Our Runner Up:
Ray Wilcockson!

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Many of you are likely already familiar with Ray, he is a retired English teacher with an amazing passion for all things Sherlock Holmes. Ray is a personal friend and his blog Altamarkings is terrific.

I will add that his first submission, albeit incorrect, was one of the most well thought out and amazing ‘wrong’ answers we received. His first guess was Charles Darwin and while his ‘deductions’ for Mr. Darwin didn’t fit every aspect of the riddle, it was certainly a compelling entry to read!

Alas upon further contemplation he submitted a second and correct answer yesterday just seventeen minutes after Laura!

 

Now for the answer and breakdown of the riddle!

Here is the original riddle:

“One of the inspirations for Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved consulting detective was revolutionary.

While that person and I are not family, we will always be connected by a bond stronger than blood, and could be easily confused for one another.

Doyle and I loved to put pen to paper and watch our creations come to life.

He once used words to describe me that could have just as easily been used to describe Sherlock Holmes, himself.

One of my three names is also the first name of one of the most well-known characters in the Canon.

Who am I?”

 The revolutionary inspiration for Sherlock Holmes referred to in the first line is of course, Dr. Joseph Bell. Many guessed him, yet he is not the answer.
The second line indicates that the ‘answer’ and Dr. Joseph Bell are not related yet can be confused for each other in some way. Also a bond, both being friends of Doyle that had ties to Holmes/Undershaw.
The third line only tell us that Doyle and our answer both put pen to paper and enjoy watching their creations come to life.
The fourth line clearly tells us that Doyle is quoted somewhere, using words that could describe Holmes, to describe our answer.
The last line gives us the solid clue that ‘one’ of this persons three names is a well known first name of a canon character.

The Solution:
Joseph Henry Ball

Ball was the architect Doyle commissioned to build UNDERSHAW, the former home of Arthur Conan Doyle! Remember, I originally said the answer would have something to do with Sherlock Holmes Week, Arthur Conan Doyle, or Undershaw.

Since Doyle is mentioned in the riddle, and the answer clearly wasn’t Sherlock Holmes Week, I knew some people would start realizing that Undershaw must have something to do with the answer. It was literally the ‘foundation’ of the riddle…  ;-)

While not related, Joseph Bell & Joseph Ball could be confused for each other: similar sounding names.
He used pen and paper to design things that came to life, namely Undershaw!
Doyle said about Ball “…an old friend and a man of most fastidious taste and critical turn of mind who will keep a constant eye upon the work.” These words could easily apply to Sherlock Holmes!
His middle name ‘Henry’ is of course a very famous name in the canon, Henry Baskerville.

Congratulations to Laura and Ray; they absolutely deserve it! Thank you to everyone who has had fun with this, as well as the 300+ people that submitted wonderful, well-thought-out answers. That’s all for now, I will be announcing the date of the Live Web Event as soon as I speak with everyone involved to pick a date that works well for us all. It’s going to be an amazing and fun night. I’ll ‘see’ you guys there! – Joe Riggs

Save Undershaw!

Special Thanks to ElenaKSays for helping me brainstorm and write these cryptic riddles.