The handwriting stroke order font I use in my Anki decks and most online sources (but not all) show the handwriting for 旋 like this: http://jisho.org/kanji/details/%E6%97%8B, where the first stroke of the "zoo" primitive is combined with the second stroke. I have not seen this with other handwritten kanji with "zoo" primitives. Is there a particular reason why *this* kanji has this handwritten shortcut while others do not?

(Also, for kanji like 既, I see several different ways of writing the first 3 strokes of the right side. Depending on the handwritten font, the second stroke may or may not touch the 1st stroke, and the 2nd & 3rd stroke may be put together; compare http://www.saiga-jp.com/cgi-bin/dic.cgi?...=0&f=0&j=既 and http://www.yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/kanjid...enDocument and http://jisho.org/kanji/details/%E6%97%A2. Which should I practice with? Does it really matter?)

Ah, first time I saw that, thanks for pointing it out. It's the less frequent writing within those with the same radical as surmised (thanks pyrosphere), so it might be important for calligraphy, but probably isn't for everyday communication (would be better if you'd remember it of course)(maybe someone more exposed to native material can elaborate). Notice "leg" ashi 足 undergoes the same lower transformation when moving to the left side 跳 (cf 蔬 or 疎 RTK alienate). So I guess the upper transformation (of critter/zoo) is only crucial when happening on the left side of a kanji (I have a different keyword for it).

For the other, the touching or not is unimportant, as is the stroke extension; but they probably touch for clarity in everyday life. It's probably the same for the extension: it allows a clearer stroke count. Try not to be phased by minor variants.