Well, I did a little work last night and I've got a ghosted view partly working.

The ghosted view is a reprisentation of the current shape at the top of the screen which appears when you can't see the blocks normally.

I've decided to add an additional indication to this view to describe the state of the chain

In the game, the chain on the crane gets weaker over time and will drop the blocks when it's too weak. This is reprisented on the chain by a different graphic showing the decrepidation of the chain as time goes on.
The ghosted preview also shows damage on the blocks to reprisent the state of the chain. So at any time, you can see where the blocks are and how much time you have left before they fall. The more damage the chain takes, the more cracks appear in the blocks, they also change colour to reflect this... but as not everyone can see colour, I added the visual damage too.

It's currently not working properly so no screenies, hopefully, I'll get more time tonight so I'll get it working and show you.