Cadaeic Cadenza
Some Hints

So, you've read the story and you're still mystified. Here are some hints as to what's going on. IF YOU REALLY WANT TO FIGURE IT OUT ALL BY YOURSELF, GET OUT NOW!

That said, here we go.

This should be clear from the story, but I'll say it anyway. There is one primary constraint which applies to the whole story except Section 12. Section 12 is different, and should be studied on its own, independent of the rest of the story. Why Section 12? There are 14 Sections in the story, which makes it the antepenultimate one. The fact that the antepenultimate section obeys different rules is mentioned explicitly in the story.

Furthermore, while the bulk of the story follows only a single rule, Section 12 obeys two constraints simultaneously. You'll recall that our narrator figured out one of these two constraints early on, but the second one only after reading the Sandburg poem.

Although the bulk of the story follows the same rule (the primary constraint), it is unlikely that reading anything beyond the first page will prove helpful! In fact, probably the first few lines of Section 1 are necessary and sufficient to deduce the rule.

The chapter headings are important.

The second sentence of Section 10 is a big (and true) hint.

The primary constraint is quite mathematical in nature, and has been used by other authors. The main achievement of the present work is not in inventing the constraint but in sustaining it for nearly 4000 words.

The general form of all three constraints (the primary one, and the two for Section 12) is contained in the list in Section 4. All three of them are related in some way to the same mathematical subject, though one only subtly.

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© 1996 by Mike Keith. All Rights Reserved.

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