Can I
Click to reveal..
complete puzzle #12 (Destroying the Kraken) before I complete puzzle #8 (The Clay Hut)
or
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does puzzle #12 trigger the volcano
?

Also, addendum to previous reply regarding tech points and the trading boat, there's no point making multiples to try for multiple trades to get extra tech points as it only accepts one lot of items per trade offered (I found out the hard way). So really, no there's no way to speed things up other than set as many villagers as possible to research (make sure you have enough farmers though). On the plus side, it doesn't take a lot of farmers to feed the village (so far).

Extra question: why does it not display everything the lemur finds when I get back? Sometimes it displays something, more often it doesn't. (After hours, not minutes.) Also, it found at least one collectible and a necklace piece while I was away without notifying me. Why?