Based on what I see as of this point, I'm expected a likely early to mid January release for the following reasons:
The UndergroundToady said he could go on forever with the underground yes, but what people keep forgetting is that he made mention that he would wrap it up in a week. Most likely meaning he's going to work on the underground stuff for this release and likely will work on more in future versions...
Overall, I'm going to say a week, maybe 9 days if he goes through complications.
Anticipated date of greening out: 22nd -24th of December
Rope Ladders for going into large underground spacesThis was on the list of "may not included for this version" and there could be a chance it can still be put in red for now. Though if Toady feels like it, he may just go ahead and cover it. Not sure how long it take, but if he were to do that, I say 2-3 days maybe 4 at most.
Anticipated date of being greened out: Giving into Christmas Eve and Day I expect it to be green on anywhere between 24th - 30th of December and this is only assuming he will do it!
Compacting issuesToady explain this would take a few days to put together. So likely another 3-4 days for that.
The cat bugFixing it so our cats are no longer "too injured" to carry thier food. It could be as simple as slaping a [GRASP] tag. But at the same time it might be something completely different as one person pointed out. This could vary in length, but I expect somewhere between 5 minutes to 2-3 days for this.
Hydra TestMaking sure our hydras don't die after one head is lopped off. This could vary in days, but likely shouldn't take too long if my estimations are correct. 2-3 days possibly 4.
Any Remaining testsThis will likely take a while just as Toady explained. As this is the "bug testing session" to make sure nothing crashes or causes eternal torment for us.
Will likely involve several fortress plays, adventure plays and arena plays in different regions to test out some of the chararistics and make sure all runs smoothly as the fortress develops. This could range from 2 -3 weeks likely, but then again it could be a whole lot quicker because... he may have been doing most of this testing all along then it'll likely be a week if nothing goes horribly wrong.
Handling misc bugs and interface reportsLikely most of the connections in any remaining test will likely come into this section as well so I say this section will be greening out along with any remaining tests. Probably add 3 -4 days to it if needed.
Merging 40d# materialWe already know Toady spent 2 days getting the initial set up for this. But we have no idea how much testing will be invovled in it. Likely just making sure all the features work especially the .png function and zooming in with the wheel. Likely will be finished along with any remaining tests, otherwise, a day to 3 days.
Overall my anticipated date for the release is likely be set for anywhere between...
JANUARY 9TH to FEBUARY 8th this is based on if thing either go very successuful or alot of problems pop up.
Otherwise on the average standpoint, I'm anticipating DF's release is likely set for
JANUARY 16th to JANUARY 23rd!This is my perdiction for the DF release!