How scoring works

Every written reading is scored out of 100. We split it in two: 60 points for the main answer, and 40 for the clues you name along the way. A short reading can score well. Holmes never wrote an essay when a sentence would do, and length earns nothing on its own.

The main answer · 60 points

The question asks for one thing or several, and each one is a part of the main answer. Under every question we say what the answer has to cover. On your result, each part has its own line with its points:

• Fullyou said it, and named what in the photograph shows it.
• Partialyou were close: the right idea without its evidence, or the evidence without saying what it means. A partial still earns most of that part's points.
• Missedit is not in your reading, or your reading says the opposite.

The clues · 40 points

Every true thing you notice that the case rests on counts on its own, a few points each, up to 40. You earn them even when your final answer goes the wrong way, so a careful eye is never wasted.

What earns nothing

An answer that rests on something the photograph does not show, or reads an object as something it is not, earns nothing for that part. We score what is in the frame, not what could have been.

Three readings of one case

This is an invented case, so it gives none of ours away. The photograph: a bicycle outside a bakery, a child seat behind the saddle, a loaf sticking out of the front basket. The question: who rides this bicycle, and why did they stop here?

The same rules hold for every written case. If a score looks wrong to you, write to us at bureau@dailyholmes.com. A person at the Bureau reads every message.