Snuff's and Graymalk's encounter on October 2 is actually a pretty good predictor of the Game's outcome. The affinities of both Rastov and Morris & MacCab are demonstrated by whom their familiars attempted to curse, and Snuff and Greymalk swap favors by warning each other about them. Both Snuff and Grey's Odd Couple friendship and the act of swapping things (the wands) will dictate the ceremony's outcome. And the location of the ceremony is implied when Snuff mentions that Jill's house is across the hill from Jack's.
The howl Snuff overhears at midnight on October 4 probably isn't random. Larry Talbot was presumably very close to achieving full control over his monthly wulfsark by that time - else, he'd never have retained his sanity long enough at the next full moon to help save Lynette - so he may have achieved a partial success, keeping his self-control from moonrise to midnight. But when the clock struck 12, supernatural forces reached their monthly peak, and he wailed out his despair as his bloodlust seized control, yet again.
The cover art of the 1st edition is very Fridge Brilliant in retrospect: the characters clustered in the foreground and middle are all either Closers (surviving or otherwise), or contributors to the Closers' victory by way of intent, misdirection, or forfeiture.
Graymalk says that Jill's life was even worse than her own, before they found each other. Considering that one of the hardships Gray lists from her own life as an alley stray is seeing her kittens killed, just what kind of "even worse" misfortunes did Jill suffer?
