I had to read this thread title several times , as I thought it referred to something else !! During ww2 , in the British Air Force , it was a game played by drunken aircrew who lay on the floor, blindfolded,and tried to score "hits" on one another with rolled-up newspapers , having first shouted ( I don't know why ) "Are you there, Moriarty ?" .A good account is given by Canadian pilot Murray Peden in his book " A Thousand Shall Fall" about his service in WW2 with the Royal Air Force with number 214 Squadron ( my father's squadron ) that flew anti-radar missions in B17 s from RAF Oulton in Norfolk .