A tightwad toff, but he does wish to help (5,4)

I believe the answer is:

means well

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'a tightwad toff but he' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'wish to help' is the wordplay.
'wish' becomes 'mean' (meaning is a kind of wishing).
'to help' becomes 'swell' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'mean'+'swell'='MEANS WELL'

'does' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for means well that I've seen before include "tries to be generous" , "full of good intentions" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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