Chooses pub closing early, having no friends around (9)
I believe the answer is:
nominates
'chooses pub' is the definition.
'nominates' can be an answer for 'chooses' (nominating is a kind of choosing). I am not certain of the 'pub' bit.
'closing early having no friends around' is the wordplay.
'closing early' becomes 'in' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'having no' becomes 'no' (I've seen this in other clues).
'friends' becomes 'mates' (mate is a kind of friend).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'no'+'mates'='nomates'
'in' put into 'nomates' is 'NOMINATES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nominates that I've seen before include "Suggests" , "Propose for election" , "Proposes" , "Puts name forward in Minnesota" .)