Highly respected and hearty guests abounded (8)
I believe the answer is:
esteemed
'highly respected' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hearty guests abounded' is the wordplay.
'hearty guests' becomes 'es' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'abounded' becomes 'teemed' (I've seen this before).
'es'+'teemed'='ESTEEMED'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for esteemed that I've seen before include "Well-regarded" , "Prestigious" , "Honoured" , "Venerable" , "Had great respect for" .)