New Mystery Title Due Out Before Christmas 2024

[Rango]

I'm with you, Rango. (And us reptiles gotta stick together.) I've never had any patience for puzzles, to be honest--I don't even do Wordle, and whenever Will Shortz comes on the radio, I mentally give him the middle name "Eat-My"--but for some reason I can't resist dropping in on this thread every once in a while to see if anyone has connected the dots, such as they are, in a convincing way.

I must say I do enjoy stuff like this and I've enjoyed trying to figure it out, but the clues seem so obscure and their composition so peculiar that I don't have a lot of confidence in them.

For example, the grammar and composition of Hint #3

Ahh, It appears that the validity of this thread is in question as well as my integrity. A man of truth would swear he is not lying as would a deceitful liar answer the same. Only you can decide if it is real or just deception.

Herewithin lies Hint #3.

(...I'll give him this: the man's a showman. It reminds me of this )

"Herewithin" isn't a real word but is that a clue?

"Herewithin lies Hint #3" should precede the clue, but is the form part of the riddle? If it should follow the clue it (arguably) should say "Therein lay Hint #3"

Edit: thanks humprof :0)

The grammar in the sentence beginning "A man of truth..." is incorrect; but is that deliberate?

So...yeah; it doesn't inspire confidence in me that this stuff can be decoded; how obscure is the link between Bruce Dickinson and Bill Sheehan? Their names both begin with "B" and end with "N"?

Is it an Alice Cooper Album? Is it a Deep Purple album? If so, how do the other clues fit?

The closest fit I can get is Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow, but as far as I know it has nothing to do with Bruce Dickinson.

 

[humprof]

"Herewithin" isn't a real word but is that a clue?

Edit: Also "lies" isn't correct English, it should say "lays". "Lies" means untruths. But is that OP's way of telling us it's all bogus?

The grammar in the sentence beginning "A man of truth..." is incorrect; but is that deliberate?

Well, as a resident member of the forum's grammar-and-usage bench, I gotta weigh in and rule that "lies" absolutely is correct English (it's the ol' lie-lay-lain vs. lay-laid-laid distinction--which has understandably tripped up native speakers for generations, is regularly ignored in everyday speech, and will probably vanish in our lifetimes).

As for the other examples: I think our man is just being preciously archaic in his diction. I'm otherwise wary, as you are. But like doubting Thomas, or Mulder, I want to believe....

 

[himey]

And, let's just say someone has already guessed the "title". Was Bill planning on telling us now that it's correct? Or, stay silent and let this drag on until...let's say...November. I might have a mental blow out by then. Honestly.

If someone has already guessed it and he continued to give clues, that would be downright dirty. He isn't obligated to say what it is at this point, but if/when someone gets it, the community should know that at that point.

 

[Rango]

Well, as a resident member of the forum's grammar-and-usage bench, I gotta weigh in and rule that "lies" absolutely is correct English (it's the ol' lie-lay-lain vs. lay-laid-laid distinction--which has understandably tripped up native speakers for generations, is regularly ignored in everyday speech, and will probably vanish in our lifetimes).

Thanks for the heads up. I don't know why I thought that. I was sure "lie" wasn't correct in that context; I stand corrected.

...and yeah, it's fun, but I'm probably not going to give it too much more time.

If someone has already guessed it and he continued to give clues, that would be downright dirty. He isn't obligated to say what it is at this point, but if/when someone gets it, the community should know that at that point.

If he's legit he might not be allowed to reveal it.

 

[mandrix]

Yes as I stated in my post. Unofficially released though.

Sorry, not the way I took your post. But OK.

 

[scottm18]

Well, as a resident member of the forum's grammar-and-usage bench, I gotta weigh in and rule that "lies" absolutely is correct English...

As a grammarian myself this is absolutely true. Some examples: You don't say the rug lays here... Its the rug lies here. Or here(in) lies what remains of this old house.

And yes, speaking of, herewithin is not a real dictionary word --it should be "herein lies the clue"

 

[Juggsnelson]

Some great Detective work on this thread....even if the answers provided were wrong!

 

[GOS]

 

[Rango]

Some great Detective work on this thread....even if the answers provided were wrong!

To be honest I'm half expecting it to be a practical joke but I enjoyed messing around with it.

Yes as I stated in my post. Unofficially released though.

If they didn't release it because they didn't like it, they might be re-engineering it. Who knows.

 

[JCDC]

Ahh, It appears that the validity of this thread is in question as well as my integrity. A man of truth would swear he is not lying as would a deceitful liar answer the same. Only you can decide if it is real or just deception.

Herewithin lies Hint #3.

Use Your Illusion

 

[Rango]

Use Your Illusion

It wasn't released early enough to be a possible candidate for a quadraphonic release. I think (?) quadraphonic was over by 1979? (according to ChatGPT at least; although it also says the last quad release was John Lennon's Imagine in 1971, so...yeah. )

 

[fizzywiggs41]

I really think we're all over the map with potential recordings.
The provided clues are far too obscure for me. So........

I for one cannot continue until we're given a "decade" for this mystery album.
At least that would be a more definitive clue.

 

[Rango]

I really think we're all over the map with potential recordings.
The provided clues are far too obscure for me. So........

I for one cannot continue until we're given a "decade" for this mystery album.
At least that would be a more definitive clue.

Assuming he's legit, I don't think he'd be allowed to reveal what it is until it was more or less due? I think there's an embargo on stuff like that; so (assuming it's legit) I think he'd have to drop really obscure clues until there's enough of them for the forum to narrow it down to an album around the time of release...

...that having been said; do we really think he's who he says he is and that he's genuine? He could easily just be someone who's enjoying messing with us.

 

[Bill B]

It wasn't released early enough to be a possible candidate for a quadraphonic release. I think (?) quadraphonic was over by 1979? (according to ChatGPT at least; although it also says the last quad release was John Lennon's Imagine in 1971, so...yeah. )

I’m sorry I don’t recall any clue that specifically said it was a quad mix. Did I miss that?

 

[Bill B]

Use Your Illusion

That’s a great guess. We already know a mix was created, and if it were the album in question, we wouldn’t have to buy a bloated box set because that’s already been done.
Still, it would mean that Axel changed his mind about releasing it, which seems unlikely.

 

[Rango]

I’m sorry I don’t recall any clue that specifically said it was a quad mix. Did I miss that?

The opposite: OP said it was surprising that it didn’t get a quad release; which suggests it was around early enough to have had one.

 

[Bill B]

The opposite: OP said it was surprising that it didn’t get a quad release; which suggests it was around early enough to have had one.

That would only make sense if we knew the title was pre-1977, which I don’t think we know for a fact either. Once again, I could be wrong.

Edit: I see the first clue says that someone has asked if there WAS a quad mix… so maybe that does indicate it’s pre-1977

 

[Rango]

Edit: I see the first clue says that someone has asked if there WAS a quad mix… so maybe that does indicate it’s pre-1977

…if we take it literally, it suggests a timeframe.

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Well, as a resident member of the forum's grammar-and-usage bench, I gotta weigh in and rule that "lies" absolutely is correct English...

As a grammarian myself this is absolutely true. Some examples: You don't say the rug lays here... Its the rug lies here. Or here(in) lies what remains of this old house.

And yes, speaking of, herewithin is not a real dictionary word --it should be "herein lies the clue"

I grammar how I want. If people understand words say, then

 

[SHB]

I grammar how I want. If people understand words say, then

The quote the band War,
"Sometimes I don't speak right
But yet I know what I'm talking about"