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Writer and philosopher sours somewhat on French water? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rousseau

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

'writer' is the definition.
(I know that Rousseau is a writer)

'philosopher sours somewhat on french water?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'sours' is 'rouss' which is present in the answer.
'water?' could be 'eau' (I have seen 'French water ' mean 'eau' so perhaps 'water' could also mean 'eau') and 'eau' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rousseau that I've seen before include "Jean Jacques - - , author of 'Confessions'" , "Impressionist" , "Henri -, French painter aka Le Douanier" , "Jean-Jacques --, philosopher and writer" , "French philosopher or painter" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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