Crossword Genius

Fancy starter of unusual pté enjoyed with relish? (3,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ate up

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'enjoyed with relish?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'fancy starter of unusual pte' is the wordplay.
'fancy' becomes 'ate' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'starter of' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'unusual pte' is 'up'.
'ate'+'up'='ATE UP'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ate up that I've seen before include "Absorbed" , "Squandered" , "preoccupied" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app