Distinguish oneself with 40 in Rome, by the sound of it (5)
I believe the answer is:
excel
'distinguish oneself' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'40 in rome by the sound of it' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'by' could be 'x' (2 by 4 is 2 x 4) and 'x' is present in the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'cel' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for excel that I've seen before include "Be superior to" , "Distinguish oneself - XL" , "Be highly proficient" , "surpass all others" , "Outrival" .)