A thing I've only just realised about #less: [UPDATE: but fixed in less 610]
When you press '/' to search forward, or '?' to search backward, and enter a regex, two changes of state occur:
1. The regex is remembered, so that 'n' or 'N' will search for the same thing again.
2. The direction is remembered, so that 'n' searches in the same direction again, and 'N' searches in the opposite direction.
I've only just noticed that #2 happens at the instant of pressing / or ?, not at the instant of pressing Return. Because it takes effect even if you change your mind and cancel the attempt to input a new search regex:
• enter "?foo", which searches backward for /foo/
• press 'n', which searches backward for /foo/ again
• press '/', which prompts for a forward-search string
• press Backspace, which cancels that prompt
• now pressing 'n' searches *forward* for /foo/
I think this must be why I sometimes get confused about which direction I'm searching in. But also, wow, it's taken me _decades_ to notice. I think it must be because when I start and then cancel a prompt like that, I don't consciously remember doing it at all – I expected so strongly that it would be a no-op that I forget it immediately!