Bit of a nonentity, but soon one gets ahead (4)
I believe the answer is:
anon
'bit of a nonentity' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'soon one gets ahead' is the wordplay.
'soon one' becomes 'an' (I've seen this in other clues. I am not sure about the 'soon' bit.).
'gets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ahead' becomes 'on' (synonyms).
'an'+'on'='ANON'
'but' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anon that I've seen before include "Having no known name" , "In a little while (informal)" , "Incognito (abbrev)" , "Soon, shortly (archaic)" , "Nameless - presently" .)