Crossword Genius

How Eastender says "fingers crossed he consumed drug" (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

opiate

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

'drug' is the definition.
(opiate is a kind of drug)

'how eastender says fingers crossed he consumed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'consumed' could be 'ate' (to eat is to consume food) and 'ate' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'opi' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for opiate that I've seen before include "description of religion?" , "Sedating drug" , "A sleep-inducing drug (6)" , "Narcotic drug" , "A drug to induce sleep" .)

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