Crossword Genius

Become ready to eat carp — no good before noon (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ripen

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

'become ready to eat' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'good before noon' is the wordplay.
'good' becomes 'ripe' (synonyms).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'noon' becomes 'n'.
'ripe'+'n'='RIPEN'

'carp no' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ripen that I've seen before include "Become ready for picking" , "Grow to maturity like fruit" , "Grow mature like fruit" , "Become ready for eating" , "Come to fruition" .)

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