by Ekotar » Fri Dec 26, 2014 1:53 am
WELL LET ME TELL YOU ALL A STORY!
Sorry for taking so long to confirm. I lost my job shortly after winning #67, so I was quite busy transitioning into a new one the last few months!
The solution I was "supposed" to use isn't the solution I used.
The pyramids are refreshed, and I knew the pyramid had previously been at the SF Marbles:The Brain Store (SFC, not Stonestown). I knew last time it was related to a building near to the pyramid, so figured the "finest in America" would be an object or building near to the pyramid--which it was, but I initially guessed wrong.
I used Google to index "Finest in America" against the city of SF, and found an article from 1904 about the Donahue Building (which, for locals, is on Powell, across the street from Marbles's location). I knew the CAB clues meant I had to word associate a bit, and the Donahue Show used to name its episodes after the guest. I figured this "first production" would be the first episode of the show, and therefore Madalyn Murray O'Hare. This wasn't the answer.
But it gave me some information. As I spelled out the clue for the BrainCoach, his eyes lit up at first. Knowing, from the Diamond Isis book, how the clue verification process works, this told me I had one of the initial letters correct (this turned out to be the fifth letter, "l").
I used this information, and checked with a theater-involved friend for plays, musicals, and movies ("productions") which feature prominently a mirror (C the first word in A Mirror). He gave some answers I could immediately discredit (Alice in Wonderland, Tommy, etc) and then "The Glass Menagerie". I got really excited, as this seemed plausible, and I went in to the store the next day to check the answer. It lined up with the few letters they had, and after that, it took a few weeks to get the answer verified.
In short, I was ludicrously lucky.