The 'break' in 23A: Big break is not an opportunity but a figurative rift or SCHISM.The 'Bed' in 18A: Bed cover is not a thing you sleep in but a flower bed ( SOIL).The 'count' in 14A: Spanish count here is not an aristocrat, not a pal of an earl or a baron, but a literal counting off of (ironically?) numbers! In Spanish: UNO, DOS, TRES. The 'Numbers' in 1A: Numbers can be read in this is not a set of mathematical figures but a book of the bible, found in the TORAH (this clue exploits the 'first letters of all clues are capitalized' convention as well, so you don't see the proper noun coming). Just in the NW corner, both 'Numbers' and 'count' are exploited for their multiple meanings, and end up meaning not what they look like they mean (based on ordinary syntax). But then there's the non-'?' misdirection stuff, which is. There's the obvious '?'-clue stuff, which is telling you (by way of its '?') that it's misdirecting you.

I've circled all the misdirection attempts on my printed-out puzzle and it's basically just covered in green. It's all the shorter stuff, clued with extreme and constant effort at misdirection and confusion, that took time to unravel, and kept any consistent momentum from ever really building.

Lots of lovely long answers in this one, but very little whoosh today because those long answers were (weirdly, and with an exception or two) the easiest things in the grid.

Casino card game crossword