[Azoz]

Maximum number of steps that I know of is 4. You need all six slots for the starter but the finishers only go up to 4. My thinking on this is that they intended to add 6 step HO's but when they reduced the timer to 10 seconds from 30 seconds this became less likely.

The green arrow, I dunno, I wondered that myself.

I've only seen the HOs move clockwise. I have no clue why the HO goes in such a funkadelic order but thats the way it is. I don't expect HO's will move counter clockwise, I think the six slots is for reasons listed above.