Crossword Genius

Army brag derisively at first (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crowd

'army' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'brag derisively at first' is the wordplay.
'brag' becomes 'crow' (crowing is a kind of bragging).
'at first' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'derisively' is 'd'.
'crow'+'d'='CROWD'

(Other definitions for crowd that I've seen before include "Large number of people gathered together" , "Large number of people in one place" , "Large group of people" , "Throng" , "Mob of people" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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