I think the previous answers have told you all you need to know. AIR-BENDS is the word you are looking for, and the preamble spells out that it is a suitably 18 (inebriated) definition of the other eight answers. It is an anagram of BRANDIES, which is the thematic theme of the whole puzzle. If you look up brandy in Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary, you should get enlightenment. I think all the other unclued entries are there