Crossword Genius

Group having drink before start of meal (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

team

'group' is the definition.
(team is a kind of group)

'drink before start of meal' is the wordplay.
'drink' becomes 'tea' (tea is a kind of drink**).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'start of' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'meal' is 'm'.
'tea'+'m'='TEAM'

'having' is the link.

(Other definitions for team that I've seen before include "Side; match" , "(Football) side" , "(Sports) side" , "Mate for a group of players" , "Crew" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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