Drunk bowled in to serve old Soviet executive (9)
I believe the answer is:
politburo
'soviet executive' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both groups as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'drunk bowled in to serve old' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'drunk' could be 'lit' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'lit' is present in the answer.
'bowled' could be 'b' (cricket abbreviation) and 'b' is found in the answer.
'serve' could be 'pour' and 'pour' is located in the remaining letters.
'old' could be 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English) and 'o' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for politburo that I've seen before include "Commie leaders" , "Ruling Soviet committee" , "Soviet leaders" , "Communist organization" , "Former USSR top committee" .)