Crossword Genius

Take sixty seconds before introduction to George Smiley (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

beaming

'smiley' is the definition.

'take sixty seconds before introduction to george' is the wordplay.
'take sixty seconds' becomes 'beamin' (as in to 'be a min' or 'be a minute').
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'introduction to' says to take the initial letters (I've seen 'introductions to' mean this).
The first letter of 'george' is 'g'.
'beamin'+'g'='BEAMING'

(Another definition for beaming that I've seen is " Smiling broadly".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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