Exasperated at the repeated inability of the software to send me a reset link by email (none turned up till today maybe 2 weeks on after God knows how many attempts) I tried to create a new ID. But it also failed. The response I got when I put my new credentials in was that my email address was already in use (presumably by me - under my old ID) and hence could not be used for my new ID. As I have no other email address extant, that meant not only could I not log in under my old ID, I could not reset my password, and neither could I create a new ID. Maybe something for the developers to think about how to rectify for other people in the same bind.
I can only presume some changes were made to the system as today after one final attempt to reset my password, following which I was going to chuck it in and quit trying, inexplicably it worked for the first time. Hence now no need to create a new ID.
Thank you all concerned.