Crossword Genius

Flourish with no direct line on the phone (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

curlicue

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

'with no direct line on the phone' is the wordplay.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'no direct' becomes 'curli' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'line' becomes 'queue' (queue is a kind of line).
'on the phone' shows a homophone (sound like).
'queue' is a homophone of 'cue'.
'curli' next to 'cue' is 'CURLICUE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for curlicue that I've seen before include "Flourish" , "Ornamental spiral line in writing" , "Kind of spiral ornamental line" , "Decorative calligraphic twist" , "Fancy curve in handwriting" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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