Free tea, every now and then, with bus ticket — to outdo all others? (4,3,7)
I believe the answer is:
take the biscuit
'outdo all others?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'free tea every now and then with bus ticket' is the wordplay.
'free' is an anagram indicator.
'every now and then' means one should take alternating letters (letters selected at regular intervals).
The alternate letters of 'with' are 'ih'.
'tea'+'ih'+'bus'+'ticket'='teaihbusticket'
'teaihbusticket' anagrammed gives 'TAKE THE BISCUIT'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for take the biscuit that I've seen before include "produce a big surprise" , "surpass all the rest" , "A dog may" , "Surpass everything else" , "beat everything - with 19d" .)