At hostelry, give middle slice and a drink to editor, being altruistic (6-8)
I believe the answer is:
public-spirited
'altruistic' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'at hostelry give middle slice and a drink to editor' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'hostelry' could be 'pub' (I've seen this before) and 'pub' is located in the answer.
'drink' could be 'spirit' (I've seen this before) and 'spirit' is present in the answer.
'editor' could be 'ed' (abbreviation) and 'ed' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'being' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for public-spirited that I've seen before include "Willing to aid society" , "Willing to do things for society" , "Willing to help society" .)