Crossword Genius

Fully drink some spirits, say, after hot drinks (4,2,3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

down to the ground

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fully' is the definition.
(down to the ground means completely or totally)

'drink some spirits say after hot drinks' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'drink' could be 'the' (I have seen 'French drink' mean 'the' so perhaps 'drink' could also mean 'the') and 'the' is present in the answer.
'say' could be 'round' (rounding is a kind of saying) and 'round' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for down to the ground that I've seen before include "it's the responsibility of the Oval, for example" , "football fan travelling here?" , "Absolutely!" , "where a lift may be going" , "Where rain goes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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