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Old dons playing golf with lead in American Gangster (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

goodfella

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'american gangster' is the definition.
'goodfella' can be an answer for 'gangster' (goodfellas can mean gangsters). I'm unsure of the 'american' bit.

'old dons playing golf with lead' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'dons' indicates putting letters inside (don can mean to wear or be covered in).
'playing' is an anagram indicator.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'golf' after 'lead' is 'leadgolf'.
'leadgolf' with letters rearranged gives 'godfella'.
'o' put into 'godfella' is 'GOODFELLA'.

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for goodfella that I've seen is " Informal American term for a gangster".)

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