Could W. B. Yeats be the British prisoner Harry found in Demonreach? Granted, he was Irish, not British, but he was into the occult, and the Dresden Files have made references to "The Second Coming".

Someone on these boards once posted some fun dummy pictures for a set of "Carpenter Files" and a "Butters Files" spinoff novels. It might have been for April Fools.

Does anybody remember where those were posted?

1. We have been told that Nicodemus has a very specific target in mind, ostensibly kept in the Labyrinth of Daedalus.  What is Nic trying to get his hands on and why?

Whatever Ferovax got in the box at Bianca's party.  I like the "Hope from Pandora's box" theory a lot, and this could be one and the same.  Yes, we won't see Ferovax until the last book, but if he banks with Hades he might have the object there.

As Nic also likes to do things for multiple reasons, he probably wants to get Harry killed while he's at it.

2. Nicodemus apparently called in a marker from Mab to get Harry on the team.  Does he have a specific plan for using Harry or did Mab twist his request?  Which of Harry's capabilities will he admit to needing, and (given that this is Nicodemus after all), which abilities is he scheming for Harry to use?

Concur that Demonreach opens up to Tartarus and Nic wants to use the Back Door. Harry will be sorely tempted to have the island imprison them all.  But, Harry is also good at finding things and people.  Anna Valmont, among them. Lastly, because Nic does things for multiple reasons, he intends to use Harry for barter.  Coming back from the dead annoyed some of the greater powers, and Nic will try to hand Harry over in exchange for cooperation.

3. Jim has mentioned that the book will be "Ocean's Eleven".  Who else did Nicodemus recruit?  How will they interact with Harry?

Concur Mavra will be on the team. She only works for herself, but she makes deals.
Evil!Bob.
Cowl.
Shagnasty.
A greater Ghoul or lesser dragon. (lower case d)
Marcone will not be part of the core team, but he will provide some necessary resource
And a bunch of Denarians.

4. Harry's general method of operation is to call on his friends for help.  In this book, Harry is (initially) allowed one extra backup member on the crew.  Who will it be?  Which of Harry's other allies will "interfere" before the plot is over?

Probably Thomas. He might also try to get an extra secret-hiding ally along, like Toot or Bob.  I suspect we will see interference from Sanya, Daniel, Michael (confirmed, AFAIK), Murphy, and Fix

5. This is a Denarian book, so (unlike the last "end of the world" showdown), the Swords will almost certainly be present.  In fact, there have been various hints...  Which Sword wielders will appear in the next book and how will their interference/help affect the plot?

Agree that Sanya will probably die. Daniel will be denied the chance to wield a sword, and will be so desperate to save the day he will take up a coin while Michael watches.

6. Mab is apparently against Nicodemus succeeding in this heist.  In the Cold Days, we found that Mab had complex reasons for wanting Harry to kill Maeve.  What are Mab's reasons in this book?  Is it simple thwarting or is there something deeper?

Mab wants to keep her knight. She knows that Nicodemus, whatever he promised, will try to kill Dresden. So, she has to advise Dresden to dutifully assist in completing the heist, but also tell him to skin Nic alive before Nic can do the same. I don't think she actually said she had any problem with the heist itself, just that she wanted Nic skinned alive.

7. At the end of Cold Days, Harry needs to stay on the island to keep his growing headaches at bay.  The start of Skin Games implies that those headaches will need to be resolved by the end of the book.  Who or what is causing those headaches, and how will the whole thing get resolved by the end of the book?

The lovebaby Evil!Bob put on Harry's tongue way back in the day. Getting his baby was Evil!Bob's condition for helping Nic.

8.  One of the key components of the "Ocean's Eleven" movie is that there is a final twist/reveal.  Given that we've got Nicodemus, Harry, Mab, and potentially Hades (and who knows who else) all trying to get the better of each other, if there's one thing you can count on it's some sort of last minute quintuple-cross.  What will be the nature of the twist and how will it all fall out?

The whole Heist was engineered by Odin to lure a bunch evil dudes into Tartarus and/or Demonreach, there to be detained. However, this will be thrown into chaos when Marcone uses the heist to take the godhood of Hades and go from lord of the Chicago underworld to Lord of the Underworld Period.

9.  (Extra Credit) There are many WAG ("Wild A$$ Guess") theories on the boards, some crazier than others.  Write up to three WAG theories (or make up your own) you believe are correct that will be confirmed (or at least have evidence in favor of) in Skin Games.

The Favor Mab owed Nic will be revealed to actually be the favor Cat Sith owed Nic. Cat Sith was Harry's Batman in exchange for Mab taking up Cat Sith's debt to Nic.  I just noticed Nic and Sith use similar phrasing. Either they spent  enough time together for one to pick up the other's phrasing, or Jim just thinks "Tempus Fugit" is something smart evilish dudes like to say.

10. (Extra Credit) This is that "free form" question where you can come up with anything else you think will be in this book.  Specific quotes Harry might say (will he actually quote Ocean's Eleven?  The movie will have come out already in Harry's timeline)? Tidbits about the White Council? The fate of Molly? Write down anything you want.  Note that whatever you write must be specifically mentioned or hinted at in Skin Games in order to be worth credit. 

In the first part of Cold Days Thomas mentioned how scary Lara is getting, to the degree of reaching for national control.  Harry put her on his "to do" list.  Lara will not get resolved in this book, but we will se a plot seed for her to be the central point of the next book.
At some point, Harry will say "Hell was freezing over, and it wasn't my fault."

I'd like to see Prometheus. Of all the characters in Greek myth, he was my favorite.  Of course, he was a Titan, so he may be imprisioned on Demonreach.

Come to think of it, in some variants he was a trickster god. It'd be amusing if Coyote, Anansi, Loki, and Prometheus were all aspects of each other.

Why would she want to imply that she is no virgin?  To lie for the sake of lying?

I suppose that a time-traveler could have gone to prehistoric times and made the writing.

One way or another, I'd guess that the writing was made a long time before the lighthouse and cottage, just because the function and style of those kind of structures seems too modern.  My impression was that those buildings were left over from the botched attempt at settling the island, and the builders used the rune covered rock to build with. (using artifacts to build with was depressingly common at the time.)

Ah, here we go, Chapter 36 of Grave Peril is where Harry makes a ghost

"Technically," my ghost said. "Harry actually died for a minute. Don't you remember how ghosts are made? Normally, there wouldn't be enough latent energy to create an impression like me, but with him being a wizard - a real wizard, not a petty fake like you - and with the border to the Nevernever in such a state of flux, it was pretty much inevitable."

yeah, one running speculation is that
*Person who gave Victor the Three Eye recipe to attack Marcone
*Person who gave hexenwulf belts to the FBI to attack Marcone
*Person who got Denarians to attack Marcone
are the same person. It makes me wonder if Marcone is even more important in the BAT than Harry is.