Cut up nothing, devouring game earnestly (2,5)
I believe the answer is:
ex animo
'earnestly' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'cut up nothing devouring game' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'nothing' could be 'o' (looks like zero - 0) and 'o' is found within the answer.
'game' could be 'nim' (mathematical game) and 'nim' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for ex animo that I've seen is " earnestly".)