With all due respect Sudbury, I have to disagree that NOT will fold up their tent. While your rationale for why this was initiated might be correct, (ie happy hedgies etc) NOT's first offer logically would not be their last.
I for one would think that NOT fully expected that a counter offer would be tabled. Having said that, I am not so sure that they would have envisioned an offer as "opportunistic" as there own. Cliffs offer certainly leaves a whole lot more wiggle room for NOT either via more great news and resultant S/P appreciation or re-structuring of the offer. (or both)
As much as Cliff's pockets are a whole lot deeper than ours, I'm still not convinced that the dust will settle as you suggested.
Cheers,
Milsy1