HQ2? Not quite yet.

The year-plus game of “Will they or won’t they?” surrounding Amazon’s decision on a city to host its second headquarters became a bit clearer late last week. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told CNBC that the company would not be making an announcement on Thursday, when Bezos is scheduled to take part in an interview with the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. That booking, combined with Amazon’s recent ramping up of its roster of lobbyists and other connections made in the political beltway had business-world tea leaf readers speculating that an announcement naming one of the three D.C.-area locations still in contention as the winner was imminent. Instead, all Bezos would confirm to CNBC is that Amazon will make its selection before the end of the year. So there’s that, at least. Austin is among the 20 finalist sites for the massive project that is expected to cost $5 billion and bring 50,000 high-paying jobs to the eventual winner.