Crossword Genius

Provide food in the middle of party to get out of a hole (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cater

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'provide food' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'middle of party to get out of a hole' is the wordplay.
'middle of' says to take the centre.
'to get' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'out of a hole' becomes 'cate' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The middle letter of 'party' is 'r'.
'r' after 'cate' is 'CATER'.

'in the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cater that I've seen before include "Provide food etc" , "Make provision for" , "... you'll see minister" , "Provide services, food or entertainment" , "Provide service for like grocer" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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