Crossword Genius

Settles noisy dispute of French guards (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

defrays

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'settles' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with ownership as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'noisy dispute of french guards' is the wordplay.
'noisy dispute' becomes 'fray' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'of french' becomes 'des' (I've seen this in other clues).
'guards' is an insertion indicator.
'fray' put into 'des' is 'DEFRAYS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for defrays that I've seen is " Bears the expenses of".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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