OK, I got my driver's side cover off.
There is enough slack in the big cable to get it pulled up over the timing gear hump and down to the front out of the way.
Have to pull rather hard on the intake manifold side. The cable snakes down under the manifold, a good steady tug will get it to move. Once the required slack is gained, I pulled the cable up and towards the front and tucked it down out of the way below the level of the valve cover (aka cam cover, aka timing chain cover).