Finished eight ahead I'm told (3,2)
I believe the answer is:
ate up
'finished' is the definition.
('eat up' can be a synonym of 'finish')
'eight ahead i'm told' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'ahead' could be 'up' (similar in meaning) and 'up' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ate' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ate up that I've seen before include "Absorbed" , "preoccupied" , "Squandered" .)