Crossword Genius

Used -- and ate -- nuts lightly fried (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sauteed

'lightly fried' is the definition.
(to saute is to fry quickly)

'used and ate nuts' is the wordplay.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'nuts' is an anagram indicator (nuts can mean crazy).
'used' after 'ate' is 'ateused'.
'ateused' anagrammed gives 'SAUTEED'.

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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