Ponder dismal moves to find paradise (8,4)
I believe the answer is:
promised land
'paradise' is the definition.
('promised land' can be a synonym of 'paradise')
'ponder dismal moves' is the wordplay.
'moves' indicates an anagram.
'ponder'+'dismal'='ponderdismal'
'ponderdismal' anagrammed gives 'PROMISED LAND'.
'to find' is the link.
(Other definitions for promised land that I've seen before include "paradise" , "Canaan - where one hopes to find happiness" , "What revolutionaries often did to peasants" , "Place of milk and honey" , "heaven" .)