Crossword Genius

Food — tons ready for eating (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tripe

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

'food' is the definition.
(tripe is a kind of food)

'tons ready for eating' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'tons' could be 't' and 't' is located in the answer.
'ready' could be 'ripe' (similar in meaning) and 'ripe' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tripe that I've seen before include "Rubbish - it's ox stomach linings" , "Rubbish (colloq.)" , "Rubbish (edible, maybe)" , "Edible entrails" , "which a freegan might eat?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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