I have a huge excel model that takes 1-2 minutes to recalculate each
time I change data.

I like the concept of automatic recalculation, in that it stops
recalculating while you type and waits until idle to kick off the
recalculation.

However, excel has an annoyance that it forces an uninterruptable
recalculation each time I paste data (in auto-recalc mode).

Is there any way to set up excel so it doesn't do an uninterruptable
recalc upon paste, but still recalcs on idle?

Assuming the answer to the above is no, is there a way to
programatically start and suspend recalculation so that I can write
this manually?

I'm thinking of writing VBA code along the following lines:
1) change calculation to manual
2) set a keystroke event that starts calculation on a delay timer (eg
10 no-key seconds)
3) also (this seems the hardest) set a keystroke event that stops an
ongoing calculation upon any key press

-MVL