Fare initially cheap on paper that’s said to raise a smile? (5,6)
I believe the answer is:
cream cheese
'fare' is the definition.
(cream cheese is a kind of food)
'initially cheap on paper that's said to raise a smile?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'on' could be 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to') and 're' is present in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cream cheese that I've seen before include "Rich dairy product" , "White foodstuff" , "Food" , "something for those crackers" , "Soft dairy product" .)