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I do thank you. I was being thick. I just reread the instructions and everything fell into place. A very enjoyable crossword and lovely bit of construction.

Does the part of the preamble about drawing a line through 2 more mean there are another 2 hiding in the grid? And should the line represent the alternative name of the formation?

Lulu666, the alternative name is separate from the line. Yes, the line, which is not straight, traces 2 more sides.

Lulu: I think the line represents the key object used by the formation.

All clues solved and hidden sides discovered and letters to be swapped noticed. Onto the outside of the grid. I have the East but am no expert in the topic at hand. Is there a way to identify there that doesn’t require balefully glaring at Wikipedia??

thom, I think your only other alternative is to smile benignly at Wikipedia

I smiled benignly and found them as always ten seconds after posting my question. So there are two more hidden within the grid. And then I’m done. Ok!

All done, that was fun! But I don’t quite get the wordplay for 30 down even though I have the answer and see the definition part, and know which word to remove ..
“Fashionable retailer left up Republican’s American flag”

4 letter word for fashionable; shift the L (left) up; + R, for a properly spelled word meaning "flag"

Struggling with “sides” finale.
Parsing 11 across, my final gap, may help.
I have SAA? - which doesn’t leave many options.
DFG2