So sorry to have disappeared for a little bit like that. I appreciate everyone chiming in with their thoughts on this godforsaken rebus. I had to travel east for a family memorial, the demands of my job and real life started to take over for a little bit, and my mind got scattered. I lost track of the various discussions I got involved in, and forgot to check in here. Again, my apologies. But now I am back!
I do remain hopeful that a solution is in sight. I still think about this rebus every day. I have done my damndest not to pester the puzzler with too many questions (or even shower him with attention) simply because I feel (and fear) that it will only serve to inflate his ego and he’ll be even less forthcoming with clues. He’s a bit of a smug character and he’s pretty darn adamant that someone, somewhere will be able to solve it. He won’t budge with freebies… but I’ve found that we’ve developed a friendly rapport, and when I handle the conversation properly, he gives me tiny, precious tidbits of helpful info (all of which I have shared here thus far.)
And so every other week or so, I muster the courage to call and ask confident questions.
I’ll say up front that my spidey sense tells me that “Fofer” is full of shit and that this mysterious “puzzler” is either a figment of his imagination or Fofer himself. He’s laying it on a bit thick for my taste.
On the off chance he’s legit my only contribution is that the “flies” might be Tse Tse flies. Which could be contorted be mean “minus zz” for the puzzle. I can’t think of any combinations for Gorby and an eyeball that would have "z"s in it though.
He is frequently on TivoCommunity forum with the exact same thread there. It too has been dormant for a couple weeks, no action on the rebus at all. Pretty solid consensus of all but Mr. Fofer that the thing is unsolveable. He claims to be still trying, but…
According to reviews of the bookstore in question, the proprieter is a bit of a hipster with political themed art on display. Maybe some political message in there?
