Joyous quintet touring French east (7)

I believe the answer is:

festive

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'joyous' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'quintet touring french east' is the wordplay.
'quintet' becomes 'five' (synonyms).
'touring' indicates putting letters inside (touring can mean going round).
'french east' becomes 'est' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'five' placed around 'est' is 'FESTIVE'.

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(Other definitions for festive that I've seen before include "Offering fun and gaiety" , "Merry" , "Jolly" , "Gay" , "Christmassy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.

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