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ok so I moved the vertical 4 letters to their logical place and left spaces behind and then changed the other 4 letters to what was needed for the final phrase. Maybe some clarity will arrive over the weekend.

The only way I can see to resolve it resulting in real words involves the 4 letters from the column returning to their original place. That fits in literally with the line in the song that starts "you can't pass..." but the initial move then is pointless, which is why I'm not confident that's right.

I did the same as you tatters which seems to tie in to the prediction in the song.

But that leaves all real words so am confused by the wording in the preamble about real words that says “(apart from the final phrase)”

Ta Tats

It’s a slightly odd endgame, for sure. But I think when you’ve seen it you are pretty sure it’s right. And loge, I don’t believe they do return to their original place. I think any more detailed discussion should be on the other thread. An awful lot has been given away on here when the puzzle is only three hours old

My difficulty is different. Move 1 is pretty clear (but it did take half an hour of gazing before it was staring me in the face) and Move 2 is exactly what the second verse requires in terms of moving from one thing to another ... but the bottom row? The implication is that the 7,5 isn't real words, but has those four irritating new letters - but not the ones needed to make the 7,5 correct. Ploy doesn't usually leave us hanging, and there's often un hareng rouge, as Poirot might say.

CD, I think the idea about "(apart from the final phrase)" is that what goes in the bottom row is not a standard dictionary phrase.

I'd prefer to leave spaces in the relevant column but that creates a non-existent word. I'll be happy to continue this on the answers thread if others prefer.

Sorry Quisling, I crossed with you. Any more detail is definitely one for the answers thread.

Thank you Ploy. Enjoyed that.