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I think the idea is to outline each shape as you progress - alternating between two different colours, and working from the bottom up. Then fill in the winning sequence in the appropriate colour at the end.

I'm not sure what your final sentence means, casanova, but the concluding move is close to the end of the sequence of moves (although, as murky has already pointed out, the conclusion could have been reached much earlier had the other colour wished).

...sorry, 'close to the end' is misleading - the very last move is the winner.

Thank you drxx

Still struggling. I followed the first instruction and the resulting text begins with ‘spare words’. Are these the six words from the six overlapping clues. Only there are seven columns. Also how can the last letters in six words represent moves in seven columns.

In the game under consideration a perfect strategy will always result in a win for the opening player, but without some knowledge about the moves I cannot see how it is possible to predict the winning discs definitively

Any advice would be very welcome

the "spare words" are the extras from all the clues ....record, engulf, aerobic...etc. Take the last letters of them and play the game with 2 colours going right through all the extra words. Call the columns A to col A will be 1d column, col B will be 3d column etc

The "connect 4" game board has 6 rows and 7 columns.....
.

Thank you kirky. My lateral thinking is pretty poor

If anybody out there is reading this thread, there are some quite misleading comments. It is NOT true to say that the game could be finished earlier. Note that the last letters of the spare words in the last four clues are all "B", so this is the site of the denouement
ESTABLISH your columns A to G, obeying instruction in preamble about 4 cells in each "Square"
Drop your discs in the columns as indicated by the last letters of spare words, so 1Across = RECORD, so the first disc outline goes in column D and must be drawn in the bottom ROW, because, being Connect 4, that's where gravity takes it.
7Ac = ENGULF, so you draw a circle (diameter 2 cell widths) in the alternate coulour in the bottom row of column F
If you keep doing this, it takes you through EACH CLUE right up to 38Down.

I have followed all instructions, but have 7 Ds and only 5 Fs - have I done something wrong?

I see that murky retracted his statement later in the thread but I don't understand why - maybe he or turast will enlighten me, because it still looks to me like the opposing player failed to capitalise on the opportunities as they arose.

However, I'm not familiar with the game and I've simply treated it as a slightly extended version of noughts and crosses (where there are no outside constraints on where players make their marks).

Of course, in this example, the setter has used the end letters to dictate the order of the moves, but that is entirely arbitrary - the setter could have picked other words and ended the game at any point.

Still, I'm not familiar with the game, so a little more detail from someone who is would be very welcome.

diver - I think your problem is down to the hyphen in the clue to 26d.