Tea range not a la mode (3)
I believe the answer is:
cha
'tea' is the definition.
(cha is a type of tea)
'range not a la mode' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ch' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cha that I've seen before include "Indian tea" , "drink" , "Tea (colloquial)" , "Tea (informal)" , "Rosie Lee (slang)" .)