Beat Frenchman brought into cup game (4)
I believe the answer is:
time
'beat' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'frenchman brought into cup game' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'frenchman' could be 'm' (abbreviation for Monsieur - like 'Mr') and 'm' is found within the answer.
'game' could be 'tie' (I've seen this before) and 'tie' is found in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for time that I've seen before include "It's done in prison" , "Great healer, so they say" , "Its detonation is delayed" , "Indefinite period" , "Hours clocked up?" .)