Used to be wasted on Ted (3)

I believe the answer is:

was

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

'used to be' is the definition.
(eg 'he was...' means 'he used to be...')

I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.

(Other definitions for was that I've seen before include "(I/he) existed" , "Used to be" , "Existed in the past" , "Lived" , "Did live" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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