Crossword Help Forum
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Will37 - I agree with you totally. I find spending 2 or 3 days on the actual crossword extremely enjoyable, and if there is sufficient information available to spend an hour or so on the end game so be it. Doing a crossword in 2-3 hours and spending 2+ days on an end game, with little, or no, direction as to what you are looking for does, IMHO, spoil the whole experience. If I want to spend hours/days on a crossword I'll look to the inquisitor, if I want to spend days on a puzzle I'll buy a Rubiks cube. A crosswords' difficulty should be governed by the clues, not a bloody obtuse preamble. GWIT should not be the determinant of the difficulty.

Is a line straight? The word 'topologically' would allow any continuous transformation. My illustration in the NE corner is not a line in the strict sense, so have I got it wrong?

merenz, the only bell singing for me was cured by a nice bottle of wine and a couple of paracetamol!!!

I don't believe this - I've had a rant and immediately discovered the theme and the initiator. Time to persevere a little longer I think..

I now see from the preamble that lines do not have to be straight, though I am still struggling with one of the quartet. The instruction that 'each line must be extended to join up with its start' seems to imply that I have to add something (which need not be linear) to form a closed loop. Is that right, and what is the point of it, when the shape already has an axis of symmetry?

Inevitably, I found the fourth figure as soon as I had posted. I can see the point in the instruction about 'joining up' in this case, but I still can't guess what the setter is thinking for the top right symbol.

Foinaven - the most elusive of the quartet is exactly what you think it will be with the words you will be expecting - it just doesn't quite jump off the page like the other three 'illustrations'. But keep going! When you trace the letters of both words you will need to continue with your line beyond the final letter and back to the first letter to complete fully both shapes. As has been previously observed, you have to go slightly beyond the NW quadrant...

I’m beginning to think at least one of my answers is wrong despite them all fitting and feeling appropriate. Presuming the fourth thematic word is the obvious one (or even one of the other equal-length alternatives), I cannot see where they can trace a line using the letters in the correct order.
Well done to those who see it as soon as they’ve posted. That hasn’t worked for me.

Foinaven - making a closed loop - ie ABCDA - turns the illustration into something more solid than just a wire diagram, but doesn't change the basic shape.

I'm pretty sure the setter is representing an item along the lines of a cherished goal.

Useby - we spent much of yesterday morning thinking exactly the same! It is worth the wait. If you've got the theme and the first 3 illustrations sorted, then you know exactly what you're looking for in illustration 4. Shark has not compromised at the final hurdle! It is the long word most commonly found on websites (and wiki) regarding the theme - not any of the shorter alternatives - plus the associated additional word making up the second element of the illustration.

There is a difference between illustration 4 and the other 3 images in how you execute the lines, but I don't want to give too much away...