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Neat. Held up at 26a.

I meant, I took time to get it.

Hi Ilippu,

My LOI was 25a. I got the Milan footballers straight away but my inability to see what the definition was held me up for ages.

Not sure about "purses" as an indicator in 10a and can't decide whether I like 5d or not! 🤔

COD - being a practitioner of the particular "flourish" in 2d I was going to choose that but, in the end, decided to go for 1d.

Thanks to Everyman for a fun puzzle.

I keep finding these Everyman puzzles difficult.
Got 3, but the definition is a crossword device on which I (American) often draw a blank.
Still can't parse 12: the first ("East") and final 5 ("golden") letters are clear, but letters 2-6 remain unclear ("China"?)

Overall a good puzzle, thanks to Everyman.

geeker,
The first E is to be expanded to NATO alphabet + Ch(ina) + ?????

Hi Brendan...
Normally I pick a few favs. Nothing here grabbed me. Agree with your reservations on 'purses'... 5d seems like a grid constraint.

Thanks, ilippu. The NATO alphabet often trips me up (along with rhyming slang).

I am in the US too; don't get me started on rhyming slang in crosswords :-)

I don't Adam and Eve it Geeker!😀

I thought 5 was all right, even arguably clever although "flipping" is ambiguous.
Also question the "purses" indicator in 10, but it does make for a smooth surface.