Now party regulars hate penny-pinching (2,7)
I believe the answer is:
at present
'now' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'party regulars hate penny-pinching' is the wordplay.
'regulars' means one should take alternating letters (letters selected at regular intervals).
'hate penny-pinching' becomes 'present' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The alternating letters of 'party' are 'at'.
'at'+'present'='AT PRESENT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for at present that I've seen before include "Currently, right now" , "these days" , "Nowadays" , "As of now, during this time" , "temporarily" .)