Well-respected Wade meets Evert over drinks (8)
I believe the answer is:
esteemed
'well-respected' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'wade meets evert over drinks' is the wordplay.
'drinks' says the answer is hidden in the clue (words in the clue have absorbed the answer).
'over' says the letters should be written backwards.
'demeetse' is hidden within 'wade meets evert'.
'demeetse' in reverse letter order is 'ESTEEMED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for esteemed that I've seen before include "Prized" , "Had great respect for" , "Regarded with respect" , "Respected, admired" , "Respected and valued, like customer" .)