How one might pay for starting drinking before time? (6)
I believe the answer is:
dearly
'how one might pay for' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'starting drinking before time?' is the wordplay.
'starting' says to take the initial letters.
'before time?' becomes 'early' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'drinking' is 'd'.
'd'+'early'='DEARLY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dearly that I've seen before include "With affection - at great cost" , "At high cost" , "with much suffering" , "How I love my wife" , "Extremely - devotedly - at great cost" .)