Crossword Genius

Group on mountain serving up a number of dishes (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

plates

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

'a number of dishes' is the definition.
'plates' can be an answer for 'dishes' (plate is a kind of dish). I'm unsure of the 'a number of' bit.

'group on mountain serving up' is the wordplay.
'group' becomes 'set' (both can mean a collection).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'mountain' becomes 'alp' (the Alps are a mountain range).
'serving up' says the letters should be written backwards.
'set'+'alp'='setalp'
'setalp' reversed gives 'PLATES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for plates that I've seen before include "Flat dishes" , "Staple for food containers" , "dentures" , "Eating utensils of staple kind" , "Strange staple for crockery items" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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