The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 plus 5 letter word S’IL VOUS PLAIT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
â
€
™
I
L
V
O
U
S
P
L
A
I
T
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "The French please" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case the french please = s’il vous plait.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.