Crossword Genius

English avoiding wooden ware getting expensive French plate (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

trencher

'plate' is the definition.
(type of historical plate)

'english avoiding wooden ware getting expensive french' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'avoiding' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'wooden ware' becomes 'treen' (treen can mean objects made of wood).
'getting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'expensive french' becomes 'cher'.
'treen' with 'e' removed is 'tren'.
'tren'+'cher'='TRENCHER'

(Other definitions for trencher that I've seen before include "Board" , "field worker" , "Plate" , "Don cap" , "(Old) wooden platter for food" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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