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Sorry drxx, no. The person a quotation is generally attributed to is not necessarily the author, and when a little investigation shows they specifically did not originate the phrase and never write it in either the generally known form or the form Xanthippe chose that clinched it. Xanthippe could have been more precise by being more precise. My post and the Wikipedia article between them make all this abundantly clear. It wasn’t too big an obstacle for solvers, I’m sure, but it’s a slip or flaw I pointed out and stick to unless there’s something factual I’ve missed.

If what the highlighting represents is so obvious, what then is its significance?

Thinking what day is coming up, and Googling the film series, and looking back at my highlighting, the films seem a strong possibility. I only had a vague memory of them, but the artwork does have that narrowing shape and ghastly look. I’m still not sure though. And I don’t know whether I’ve missed something, or am looking for too much!

mooncow - Xanthippe used the quote found in the ODQ, it's the standard reference for quotes for crossword editors. Luckily there's another route for solvers who don't have a copy (a wiki page) and even here the quote is referenced and given precedence (the 'real' history is neither here nor there). By the way, the wiki page fails its own accuracy test by omitting the word 'is' from the quote, but at least it directs us to the facsimile, where we see it in full.
I think the illustration is simply generic and any resemblance to a film or advert - or anything else - is probably fortuitous. When I started on the endgame the first thing I looked for was a stick-man. I knew it would have to be something simple and symmetrical - and I'm sure it would have got me thinking about old TV episodes of 'The Saint' if I'd found it, but that's irrelevant (I think).
As I see it, Xanthippe has simply linked the two elements of the quote within a crossword puzzle. We get the one thing within the many things (although not that many) mentioned in the quote - for me, it's a neat end to a very novel grid-fill.

First of all may I say how much I enjoyed the "jigsaw method of answer entry" - it was great fun and a bit of a challenge. I am now in the position of having a full grid and most of the end-game sorted - except for the very last. It looks like I could stumble at this bit.

I was going to ask about which version of the quotation needs to be used. I had opted for the ODQ version - with ONE and TEN. Thank you for your latest post drxx in which you confirm this. My problem is in locating the 33 letters of the jumbled quotation. I know where the line is for the mirror symmetry and also the nine letters (not used in the quotation) to be erased. I can even see (just!) the figure/picture that these are supposed to portray - ( I thought about having a Scream briefly). However, I cannot find the exact letters to be highlighted for the jumbled quotation. I seem to get 90% of the way there and end up with disparate and wrong final letters. It is so frustrating! I have looked on numerous occasions at the dodgepot post at #35 but I cannot make any sense out of it. Even mooncow's lengthy explanations leave me flummoxed.

There is talk of a theme. What is the theme? There is talk of a film series. Films are definitely not a strong point. The last film I saw at a cinema was "Gone with the Wind" - when it was first released. Does an Elm come into it?

Any hints or nudges (especially big ones) would be gratefully received. I need to get on to 4787 soon!

I think what dodgepot is suggesting is that you can be guided by the asterisks - theyre either side of the line of symmetry, so that will give you a surrounding rectangle to begin with (then broaden the shape into an oval and add the appendages for the correct number of highlighted cells).

Thanks drxx. If the different form is Wikipedia’s error not Xanthippe’s I shall relent slightly, and I’ll make sure Wikipedia is fixed if you haven’t already done that. I still don’t feel that someone can be the author of a quotation that has already appeared in print fifteen years earlier — the “real history” definitely is both here and there for me — but I’ll agree the quotation is often attributed to him, including by ODQ apparently, so the rubric imprecision is minor. And I’ll stop wondering why the picture was chosen and drawn like that…!

Yes, the highlighting “starts and ends” at the asterisks in the sense that nothing is highlighted left or up from the upper asterisk or right of the lower one. The other thing that folk have mentioned which helps is to mark out cells that *cannot* be highlighted because they’re not in the quotation. Remembering that the result will be symmetric about an axis to be found, which the asterisks help with, it should be workable out from there. I think we’ve agreed the result is not particularly thematic, apart from being a random example of one of the things mentioned in the quotation — sorry if I muddied the water: I too was muddy! I find it slightly weirdly drawn, narrowing as it goes down, and decidedly creepy-looking, which is why I thought of some films that might have been relevant, but others seem not to perceive it like that and the films are probably just me over-thinking it all. If you more-or-less imitate it when you’ve finished, all should be well.

drxx and mooncow

Thank you for responses to my post. I have now managed to get a final result which seems to meet all the requirements - but, there again, maybe not!

For the first 90% of the solve this was a clever and brilliant puzzle. However, the final end game really spoilt it for me. The preamble for this bit was unnecessarily vague and obtuse. Where was any connection between the various bits of the puzzle? What was the over-riding theme? I expected some sort of link between the quotations author (again contentious), jigsaws and the final "picture" (whatever it was meant to be). A shame.

Still, I am glad about the jigsaw piece grid construction.

Again, thanks to drxx and mooncow (and very many more contributors).