Crossword Genius

These are up for approval! (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thumbs

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'these are up' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.

'approval' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'approval' could be 'mb' (MB is an example) and 'mb' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'thus' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'for' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thumbs that I've seen before include "Digits; requests (lift)" , "Short thick digits" , "Hitches a lift" , "reads intensively" , "To be all these is to be clumsy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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