Crossword Genius

Old French coin laid very oddly on top of escritoire (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

livre

'old french coin' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'laid very oddly on top of escritoire' is the wordplay.
'oddly' means one should take alternating letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
'on top of' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'escritoire' is 'e'.
'laid'+'very'='laidvery'
The alternate letters of 'laidvery' are 'livr'.
'livr'+'e'='LIVRE'

(Another definition for livre that I've seen is " Old French coin".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app