Thanks to fellow EWG member for the clarification (again! One of these days, I’ll get it straightened out in my head) on passed versus past. As per Laurie:
Past can be:
An adjective – I was thinking of past times
An adverb – They hurried past (i.e. along)
A noun – I’m not going to reveal my past to anyone
A preposition – I walked past the store without thinking (i.e. in front of) or He’s past retirement age (i.e. beyond)
Passed is the Past Participle of To pass.and is used of passing exams, passing a car, passing legislation, passing the time, passing a location, and similar uses. It cannot be used as – I’ve moved passed it – that s/be ‘past’ being used as a preposition.