Free to follow twinkling cop abroad (7)
I believe the answer is:
mountie
'cop abroad' is the definition.
'mountie' can be an answer for 'cop' ('mounties' are the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). I am unsure of the 'abroad' bit.
'free to follow twinkling' is the wordplay.
'free' becomes 'untie' (I've seen this before).
'to follow' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (some letters go after or follow others).
'twinkling' becomes 'mo' (both can mean a brief period of time).
'untie' put after 'mo' is 'MOUNTIE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mountie that I've seen before include "Member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police" , "Canadian policeman" , "One boasting of getting man" , "The lawman always gets his man!" , "Horse-riding Canadian cop" .)