Taking me out for a meal at lunchtime, on my own (5)
I believe the answer is:
alone
'a meal at lunchtime on my own' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'taking me out' is the wordplay.
'taking' becomes 'on' (eg one taking drugs is 'on' drugs).
'me' becomes 'ale' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'out' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'on' placed inside 'ale' is 'ALONE'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alone that I've seen before include "Solo" , "Exclusively; solitary" , "Without others present" , "Without others being involved" , "Singly" .)