Elmer left base to go on a bender (6)
I believe the answer is:
fuddle
'go on a bender' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to consumption as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'elmer left base' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'base' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fuddle that I've seen before include "Bemuse (with liquor)" , "Confuse" .)