Curiously, little happened in the last 16 pages of Infinite Jest. That's been the book's m.o. for the most part, but after so many pieces had been falling into place in previous sections, I was sure that more would continue to do so.
There might be something to the under 14s' subterranean garbage clean-up and rodent hunt. But right now, the pay off was just the discovery of rancid food.
The continuing view of the Hal/Stice match from the perspective of one Helen Steeply brought more to the table. Particularly in its feeding out a lot more info on Hal and ETA's philosophy. This sections' end, where it's implied that DeLint says Hal's game is being held back by too good a memory, does bring closure to why he's struggling. But it does so in the same way that an elastic band stretched over a lidded, screw-cap jar height-wise does. Hal's being emotionally distracted is definitely an open secret at this point.
What Poutrincourt, the woman Steeply has suspicions about, has to say nicely clarifies the ETA philosophy, though. Apparently, Hal's physical game could easily be on par with ETA top player John Wayne's, but because Hal finds trends in his game he constructs projections of what will happen next in them. These projections then constrict his play. Wayne's lack of memory for points and plays, on the other hand, allows him to keep his game fresh all match long.
I don't know much about tennis, but really appreciate ETA's philosophy around how the game should be played. Plus, I think there's a connection between J.O. Incandenza's motives to make "the Entertainment" and this philosophy. But that's just a hypothesis for now.
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