Side with cured meat or game (10)
I believe the answer is:
backgammon
'game' is the definition.
(backgammon is a kind of game)
'side with cured meat' is the wordplay.
'side' becomes 'back' (back is a kind of side).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'cured meat' becomes 'gammon' (gammon is a kind of meat. I am not sure about the 'cured' bit.).
'back'+'gammon'='BACKGAMMON'
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for backgammon that I've seen before include "Game with 24 points" , "Dice and counter game" , "sedentary activity" , "Board game for two players" , "dicey contest" .)