Meat is on even before starter is off (7)
I believe the answer is:
venison
'meat' is the definition.
(I know that venison is a game meat)
'is on even before starter is off' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'is' is within the answer.
'on' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ven' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for venison that I've seen before include "Type of meat" , "Deer (as food)" , "Deer meat" , "Meat - in ovens (anag)" , "Flesh of deer" .)