Paper negatives are uhh, contrasty III

What developer are you using? I use either very old weak dektol or the like or hc110 dil H.
You can develop by examination. I also tend to over expose to get shadow density.
That being said, I swear this is going to be great.
Paper negs work great with lith printing or printed on matt fiber and toned.

Hmm, interesting. So there's hope for bringing down the contrast and getting shadow detail?

I used my normal printing dilution of dektol (1+2 from the stock, I think?)

Preflash the paper.

Good start.