I think the author may be making an incorrect assumption, that the recently published black-hole/black-hole merger was the "knock your sox off" detection leaked in August.

LIGO scientists have a pretty clear understanding of what a BH-BH merger sounds like in comparison to a neutron star merger. With a clear signal they would be unlikely to confuse one for the other. And the published BH-BH signature is very clear.

The sky location for the published BH-BH merger is in the constellation Eridanus. The rumored NS-NS merger was in galaxy NGC4993 in the constellation Hydra.

The published BS-BS merger was detected on August 14. The rumor leaks started August 18, hypothesizing a relationship to gamma ray burst GRB 170817A detected on August 17.

I hold out hope the NS-NS rumor is true, that paper is just taking a bit longer to prepare.