Crossword Genius

Lecturer of French lags behind? Au contraire ! (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

reader

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

'lecturer' is the definition.
('reader' can be a synonym of 'lecturer')

'of french lags behind? au contraire' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'of french' could be 'de' and 'de' is found within the answer.
'behind?' could be 'rear' ('rear' can be a synonym of 'behind') and 'rear' is found in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for reader that I've seen before include "Publisher's selector" , "He's immersed in a book or newspaper" , "' -- , I married him' (J. Eyre)" , "Peruser of text" , "University academic" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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