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boATMan essentially =ATM so PIN

chrisE & chelle have it! Well done!

A friend I've just shown it to suggests that you need a PIN on a rowlock to fit the oar onto.

The business with the oar occurred to me at the beginning, but I find the ATM version more convincing! Congratulations! Unfortunately my doubts are not at an end: in my opinion either PIN or PUN wd now be justifiable, depending which way round you u'stand the clue. Any further opinions?

Re The Boatman issue I think the answer must be PUN because "wordplay" is otherwise redundant. As a matter of interest what "Boatman essentially" wants, ie doesn't have, is the letter "u" anywhere inside. So if a boatman needs a pin a change of heart could, in a convoluted way, lead to PUN.
This clue seems a bit unsatisfactory all round I think!

in the meantime I'm convinced it's definitely PUN:the word "from" decides it, if you look v. carefully at the clue --- what the Boatman needs essentially = ATM needs PIN, then "change of heart". Thanks to all who took the trouble, just for one letter --- then I missed the post here, so no hope of my entry reaching B. on time ---that's the way the cookie crumbles!!!

I agree, greedykite; it implies change FROM what the boatman requires - therefore from PIN to PUN, def. wordplay.
Unfortunately I imagine a lot of solvers will be baffled and just write in PUN for "wordplay".

It's worth noting for newcomers that Boatman is a Guardian crossword compiler (see 25590 for example) hence the capital B. 19A must surely be PUN. Clue seems rather tortuous, but less so than 13A.

(Desert = definition, rat returning = tar = AB (Able Seaman), A, North Dakota = ND, 9 after vacation = OPERATION with inner letters removed = ON.)