Crossword Genius

People using crooks with little money, namely to get something to eat (9,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shepherds pie

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

'something to eat' is the definition.
(shepherd's pie is a kind of food)

'people using crooks with little money namely' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'people' could be 'shepherds' (shepherd is a kind of person) and 'shepherds' is present in the answer.
'money' could be 'p' and 'p' is located in the answer.
'namely' could be 'ie' (short for 'id est', 'that is' in Latin) and 'ie' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'to get' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shepherds pie that I've seen before include "lunch" , "Lamb and potato dish" , "Meat and mashed potato dish" , "Mashed potato and minced meat, baked" , "Meat-and-potato dish" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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