Cryptic crossword clue
Time children went and turned knobs 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word TWIDDLED

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
W
I
D
D
L
E
D

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "turned knobs" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case turned knobs = twiddled.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does TWIDDLED mean?

TWIDDLED verb
  1. To wiggle, fidget or play with; to move around.
  2. To flip or switch two adjacent bits (binary digits).
  3. To be in an equivalence relation with.
  4. To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.

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