Drink almost everything? No, the whole lot (5)

I believe the answer is:

total

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'no the whole lot' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'drink almost everything?' is the wordplay.
'drink' becomes 'tot' (a small alcoholic drink).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'everything?' becomes 'all' (all things).
'all' with its final letter removed is 'al'.
'tot'+'al'='TOTAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for total that I've seen before include "Damage beyond repair" , "It might be grand" , "given by 8 [ADDING MACHINES]" , "French oil and gas company" , "final answer" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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