Crossword Genius

Pass back and forth backwards in mauls? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

paws

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'mauls?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'pass back and forth backwards' is the wordplay.
'back' suggests the final letters.
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'forth' becomes 'wap' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'backwards' is a reversal indicator.
The final letter of 'pass' is 's'.
's'+'wap'='swap'
'swap' back-to-front is 'PAWS'.

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for paws that I've seen before include "Feet of a quadruped" , "Tom's feet" , "Parts of Cats" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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