Crossword Genius

Happen to swallow small whiskey perhaps left for polymath (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aristotle

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'polymath' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'happen to swallow small whiskey perhaps left' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'to' is found in the answer.
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is found within the answer.
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aristotle that I've seen before include "Thinking Greek" , "polymath" , "Ancient Greek philosopher" , "Greek philosopher (Poetics, Politics)" , "Totaliser (anag) - ancient Greek" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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