The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 letter word ATE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
T
E
More clues leading to the result ATE
- Mischievous goddess had some food
- Had a meal at end of game
- Had meal of pasties, regularly
- Had meal in canteen regularly
- Greek character returned and dined
- Had meal Greek character brought over
- Worried in area the hospital’s missed
- Worried — loathe having to leave hospital
- Scoffed at European capital
- Was no faster?
Buddy explains!

The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ATE mean?
ATE verb- To ingest; to be ingested.
- To use up.
- To cause (someone) to worry.
- To take the loss in a transaction.
- To be injured or killed by (something such as a firearm or its projectile), especially in the mouth.
- To corrode or erode.
- To perform oral sex (on a person or body part).