Crossword Genius

Iris's French food outlets bringing in foreign cash (5,2,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fleur de lis

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

'iris's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'french food outlets bringing in foreign cash' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'french' could be 'f' and 'f' is present in the answer.
'food' could be 'e' (E is an example) and 'e' is found in the answer.
'outlets' could be 'delis' (deli is a kind of outlet) and 'delis' is found in the answer.
'cash' could be 'l' (The pound sterling symbol is an elaborate L) and 'l' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ur' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fleur de lis that I've seen before include "The flower of France" , "Iris" , "Charge" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.