He pulled some strings out of his hat

A co-worker blurted this one.  It’s a nice mash up of “pulled some strings” (to use influence from someone to get something done) and “pulled a rabbit out of a hat” (to do something surprising).  “Pull” is the operative word here.  Also, perhaps the speaker was thinking of magicians with invisible strings for their tricks?  A big thanks to Taylor Rose George for hearing this one and passing it on!