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Is it my increasing senility , or are some of the parsings in this puzzle unusually cryptic?
E.g. 20d 'Nuts and bolts sailors fitted in part of ship (6)'. My answer: 'RN' in 'keel' = "kernel". If correct, why 'nuts and bolts'? "Nut", perhaps , but "bolts"?
Help, or misericorde, please.

the "nuts and bolts" of something can mean the nitty gritty or the kernel of

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/nuts+and+bolts

Kernel is a synonym of nuts and bolts - basics/core/ nitty gritty

My link did not work

Thanks, cerasus and zozozo: it is my senility!
A reply of "Of course!" would seem patronising. I just didn't have the nous to look up 'nuts and bolts' in the dictionary; I merely checked 'kernel'.
That's crossword 26724 and me personally both done for the day! g.i.