I know, I know. Still no announcement from HBO, alas, and I can't say when and if it will be coming. I know that many of you are going mad with impatience. Me too, actually. Sure, I know who has been cast, but I'm dying to see the reactions.

But we're all going to have to wait. HBO calls the tune. And while we have six roles filled but yet announced, others of equal importance still remain unfilled. HBO may very well be waiting until some of those pieces fall into place before making the next announcement.

Meanwhile, some of you are warm and some are very cold. One of my clues seems to have been puzzled out by many of you, so I will fess up and admit that you're correct -- yes, the line about "small but important" roles refers to two of the children. You will, alas, never get those two. Even if I told you their names, you'd never find 'em. They're not on IMDB, and when you google 'em you get dozens of listings for other people who share their names, but none for the child actors. So they're essentially unknowns... but I have seen their readings, and I think that both of them will be great.

That still leaves four adults you can try to figure out, though. And among the hundreds of theories and guesses, I've seen a couple of you getting it right... or coming close, riding the right theory to the wrong conclusion. So keep at it.

In the absence of an announcement, I'll give you a few more clues. One cast member was played by a puppet. Another has been seen wandering a castle exclaiming about roses. A third is too good to be true. The fourth is the fifth. Esquire thinks one of them is hot.

'Nuff said.

And while you guys are chewing on those, off in London and New York and LA and Dublin, casting continues. They're reading for some smaller parts now: Gared, Ser Rodrik, Maester Luwin, and the like. Even for these "lesser" roles (you know the old chestnut, there are no small roles, only small actors), we're seeing some great readings. David, Dan, and Tom are going to have some tough decisions to make. Me, I'm going out for coffee and a danish.