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Hi PS re 20d I took the ending to be a busy insect ?? Busy as a ***
Hope that works.

Thanks Chris…I’m still thinking !!!

Yes as per usual I worked it out myself after typing my train of thoughts in a post.

We call that "cardboard cut-out debugging" or "sock 24A debugging" in my line of work where if you ask someone for assistance then often when you are explaining what is wrong you see the answer yourself anyway, so could have just been talking to a carboard cut-out!

Haha PS very funny…I’m the same with anagrams, as soon as I look for help in a solver Ive sorted it :-)

"Rubber duck debugging" is another term I have heard used although in my industry I think crappy anime action figures/transformers etc. would be more appropriate since rubber ducks are only for use in the bath. Strangely it's the artists/designers that seem to have those sorts of toys littering their desk I just tend to have a big notebook and coffee on my desk (when I was in the office anyway). Although I did have a (decent, not the official brand) Rubik's cube on my desk (always solved of course, which makes my unsolved 4x4 on the shelf disappoint me because I used to be able to remember how to do those as well). Taking apart a 4x4 is NOT an easy option either, I did that once, took me about 4 hours to put it back together with my sausage fingers!

I'm unusual for a programmer in that I think Star Wars is crap as well!

6D is quite convoluted to parse, 1 followed by 2 "saving"/containing ("30 seconds" (3) + 1) so the 2 letter word forms the 2nd and last letter of the answer.

Does anyone else think there might be two answers to 24a.One begining with P and one with M ?

Maybe, although only a few of those were operated with the hand inside them, they used sticks/strings/actual people inside them to control most of them.

10A could also start with a T but it doesn't fit the "loosely speaking" part then (and by "loosely" he's not wrong about that!).

chrisxxx
You've reminded me of this - essential viewing for cricket followers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPIjT-zdryY

Hi Paradigmshifter

I've spelt 10a with an initial T (rather than an S) - it's a (slightly spolierific) slang term London bus drivers use.