堅苦卓絕

坚 = 収 + 土 : Joan of Arc (ji) built a strong (坚) and sturdy (坚) burrow out of dirt (土) in front of the anthill (an1). She even equipped it with a strong (坚) radio (収) to keep contact with her troops.

苦 = 艹 + 古 : Karl Koala decided to repent for his sins and retreated into a cloister inside the space station. There he leads a very simple life full of hardship, e.g. he gave up on eucalyptus and just eats very bitter artificial lawn.

卓 = ⺊ + 早 : Mnemonic symbol: a 班 ban1 卓 zhuo2 琴 qin2, a banjo. Julian Giant Squid (zhu) is taking part in a music contest in the observatory's kitchen (o2). There is an alarm clock (早) with a pennant on it (⺊) which shows exactly the time when Julian Giant Squid is allowed to play. As the pennant goes up Julian Giant Squid starts to play, and he proves that his banjo skills are really outstanding (卓).

绝 = 纟 + 色 : Just inside the elevator's kitchen Zeus and the silk worm are playing a dice game. The game is called "annihilation", and the loser is said to become extinct within 1000 years' time. They don't know yet that both gods and worms will be extinct due to the human race soon.