Spooner's cleverly ignoring old eastern riposte (8)

I believe the answer is:

response

'riposte' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.

(Other definitions for response that I've seen before include "comeback" , "Rejoinder, retort" , "Answer - retort" , "Preens so by way of answer" , "bid by partner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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