The lads (but not you) join me for something alcoholic (5)
I believe the answer is:
meths
'lads but not you join me for something alcoholic' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'eth' which is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ms' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for meths that I've seen before include "Violet-coloured alcohol" , "Spirit" , "Methylated spirits (colloq.)" , "unsuitable alcohol" , "Fuel" .)