More perishing here in France were content (5)

I believe the answer is:

icier

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'more perishing' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'here in france were content' is the wordplay.
'here in france' becomes 'ici' (I've seen this in another clue).
'content' says to take the centre.
The middle letters of 'were' are 'er'.
'ici'+'er'='ICIER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for icier that I've seen before include "with increased chance of freezing" , "increasingly frigid" , "comparatively aloof" , "Colder even than 31 Across" , "More slippery" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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