Crossword Genius

Healthy drink to accompany healthy starter (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hale

'healthy' is the definition.
(hale can mean fit and healthy)

'drink to accompany healthy starter' is the wordplay.
'drink' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'to accompany' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'starter' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'healthy' is 'h'.
'ale' after 'h' is 'HALE'.

(Other definitions for hale that I've seen before include "Well" , "Healthy and robust" , "Sound of body" , "Healthy and hearty" , "Strong and healthy" .)

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