A little catch-up on your most recent images, Ross, as I fell behind for a few weeks.
I have already 'liked' your image for Match on Flickr as I do really like the low, symmetrical viewpoint and the bold colours, as well as the way you have excluded your reflection from the top half of the image but included the lady engrossed in reading her phone. It works very well
I also like both images for Music and enjoyed reading about the challenges you faced as well as your thought process about both shots. I do prefer the tight close-up details of #1 but the wider view of #2 is interesting and shows your working environment and hints at the lack of space too.
For Hard, I like the environmental feel of the first image but feel the cropped version is the more obvious fit for the theme. I like the shallow DOF drawing the eye straight to the wording but including enough detail of the trees in the background and the muddy tyres.
Creatures - I like the smooth OOF background and lovely colours in the first one, and the cute doggy with sticky-out tongue and bandana in the second. Is Ron a new addition? I remember you lost an older dog recently. I can see there has already been discussion about focus/softness and they do both look a little off, but pleasing nonetheless.
You nailed the focus in your latest one though and it's perfect for the Synthetic theme. Good original idea, colourful and detailed, and stands out well against an undistracting BG