rebus - Rebuses linked by a certain topic

See if you can solve these rebuses which range from easy to hard. They are all linked by a topic.

1. 
   

   
   

   On e

   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   
   

   luu (-4)

   
   
   

   
   


3. 
   

   

   
   


4. 
   

   

   
   


5. 
   

   

   
   
   

EDIT:

Hints:

2. I could have added a space to make it make easier.

4. Treat the 4+image as one unit. Keep reading it aloud.

5. rlord3534 has the interpretation for the 3 images correct. Now see if you can make sense of them. It would help if you keep thinking about what exactly you are trying to solve.

[Note that I have now posted the solutions to this puzzle below]

_{*Note the images of the flags, bus, spring, trophy outline and the text for 'tumn' do not belong to me (all obtained online).}

Answer

Given that not all of them have been solved, and the solutions are scattered through several answers, I shall post the full solutions here.

1. 
   

   Solver: This was solved quite quickly, and I cannot attribute anyone in particular with it (as several people got it).

   
   

   Quite literally:

   
   

   
   

   A hole in one

   
   

   
   

---

Given the solution for 1, the topic is most likely to be (and is):

Sports (although it actually is slightly more refined than this, as I have posted in the side note at the very bottom of this answer)

although some guessed that it might be:

Golf

---

2. 
   

   Solver: Volatility

   
   

   This was quite mean, and I could have made it easier to get by writing it as:

   
   

   
   

   l uu (-4)

   
   

   
   

   Nevertheless, it's

   
   

   
   

   l before double u $\to$ l b4 w $\to$

   lbw (cricket)

   
   

   
   
   

   The '-4' is optional, as

   
   

   
   

   the b stands for 'before' anyway, hence the brackets.

   
   

   
   

---

3. 
   

   Solver: rlord3534

   
   
   

   
   

   [triangle] - [angle] = tri

   
   

   
   

   which sounds like:

   
   

   
   

   Try (rugby)

   
   

   
   

---

4. 
   

   Unsolved

   
   

   I could have perhaps made it easier by drawing the arrow in a more helpful place. However, the point of giving rebuses linked by a certain topic was so that solvers could try to 'guess' the solution by thinking of common phrases which I might have put in, and this was the case for this rebus.

   
   

   
   

   In the hint, I said it would be helpful to consider the 4+image as one unit.

   The image represents the flags of the countries in the uk

   
   

   
   

   So that part of the rebus says:

   
   

   
   

   4 + uk $\to$ four add uk

   
   
   

   
   

   The arrow represents:

   
   

   
   

   out

   
   

   
   

   So combining these, we get:

   
   

   
   

   out four add uk

   
   

   
   

   Reading this out loud:

   
   
   

   
   

   out four a-dduk (pronouncing uk as "uck" rather than "you kay")

   
   

   
   

   Which sounds like:

   
   

   
   

   Out for a duck (cricket)

   
   

   
   

---

5. 
   

   Partial solvers: rlord3534 (got all of the mini-rebuses), Aleeeeee (almost got there afterwards)

   
   

   First, get the interpretation of the 3 images:

   
   

   The first one wasn't hard:

   
   

   
   

   Bus

   
   

   
   

   The second one was slightly harder, but was guessed by some:

   
   

   
   
   

   u's (plural of the letter 'u')

   
   

   
   

   The third was made up of 4 images:

   
   

   
   

   spring $\to$ Spring
   some 'er' $\to$ Summer
   gold 'tumn' $\to$ Au 'tumn' (chemistry) $\to$ Autumn
   win 'ter' $\to$ Winter

   
   

   
   

   So these 4 images represent:

   
   
   

   
   

   the seasons

   
   

   
   

   However, this is not the correct interpretation for this final part, and I did say to some that the arrows were the most important.

   
   

   Note that we are trying to solve a rebus, and I underlined the importance of this in my hint.

   
   

   
   

   The word ‘rebus’ is quite close to the first image, but with an extra ‘re’.

   If we apply this ‘re’ to the next image, we get ‘re[u’s]', which sounds like ‘reuse’.

   This might lead to the interpretation of the final image which is ‘cycle’. If we add ‘re’ to it, we get ‘recycle’.

   
   

   
   

   This now gives us:

   
   

   
   
   

   rebus, reuse, recycle

   
   

   
   

   This is quite similar to the phrase:

   
   

   
   

   reduce reuse recycle (which Aleeeeee managed to spot)

   
   

   
   

   Yet the key to solving this puzzle is:

   
   

   
   

   The word 'reduce' is replaced with 'rebus'.

   This perhaps indicates that the solution of the original rebus is ‘reduce’.

   
   

   
   
   

   But this isn’t sports related, and that’s because:

   
   

   
   

   The original rebus did not have any ‘re’s in it — they were placed there by us in order to help solve the puzzle. The image which would have completed the rebus (the image which should have replaced the ‘bus’), should’ve been ‘duce’, or something which sounded like that in order to complete the pattern.

   
   

   
   

   Therefore the final solution is:

   
   

   
   

   reduce $\to$ duce

   
   

   
   

   Which sounds like:

   
   

   
   
   

   Deuce (tennis)

   
   

   
   

   Side note:

   
   

   
   

   The sport doesn’t have to be tennis, but it most often is associated with it. Note that the theme is more specifically terminology (words/phrases) used in sport.