Crossword Genius

Private party organised for Rosie at the start of the evening. (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

soiree

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

'the evening' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'private party organised for rosie at the start' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'rosie' is 'soire' which is located in the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for soiree that I've seen before include "Evening function" , "Cultural at-home" , "Party assembled in the evening" , "A social gathering in the evening" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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