Crossword Genius

He was bound to begin but not to end his act (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

houdini

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

'he was bound' is the definition.
(Harry Houdini was frequently tied up or bound)

'begin but not to end his act' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'not' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is found in the answer.
'act' could be 'din' (din is a kind of act) and 'din' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hui' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for houdini that I've seen before include "tie-break ace" , "Harry -, US escapologist" , "Harry was famous as an escape artist" , "one who'd try to escape?" , "Escape artist, d. 1926" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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