That subject line just made me think of TPS reports. umm. . .yeah

anyway, i tried the latest recommendations, and here are the results:

1) took off the throttle body, cleaned up the mating surface, and checked the resistances per the FAQ. both between center and left and center and right had resistances of << infinite.

2) reconnected the TB, started the car. the idle slowly went up to 3000 - 3500. I tried the "spray something flammable on it" leak test, and nothing happened. I made sure to get the TB as well as the intake gasket area.

3) I took off the harness wire to the TPS and tested it per the FAQ instructions. The connector was oriented with the wire lock facing the firewall (as if you had just pulled it off and left it oriented as it was when it was on), and #1 being closest to the engine block, 3 being farthest away.
and the results are:

Jumper 1 to 2:
shot to 2000 rpm, held for a second, and immediately dropped to almost nothing. it then rebounded to around 2500 and held steady.

Jumper 2 to 3
slowly went to 3000 - 3500 like usual and held steady.

Harness Disconnected
same as 2 to 3

Harness Connected
same as 2 to 3

The FAQ says to "Disconnect the switch connector and jumper from one side connector to the middle. . .If idle returns to normal, switch is at fault." What happened is hardly what i'd call "normal," but definitely more normal that what's been going on. Is a new TPS (umm. . .yeah) my solution?

Thanks for all the help