Drinks tea at regular intervals by order (6)
I believe the answer is:
diktat
'order' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'drinks tea at regular' is the wordplay.
'regular' indicates alternate letters.
'drinks'+'tea'+'at'='drinksteaat'
The alternating letters of 'drinksteaat' are 'DIKTAT'.
'intervals by' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for diktat that I've seen before include "arbitrary order" , "Harsh order or decree" , "Decree imposed from above" , "Harsh authoritative order" , "Forceful order that must be obeyed" .)