Took advantage of unfocused constituents (4)
I believe the answer is:
used
'took advantage' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to consumption as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'of unfocused constituents' is the wordplay.
'of' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'USED' is hidden within 'unfocused constituents'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for used that I've seen before include "took a chance on becoming dependent" , "Old" , "Brought into play" , "Exploited - not new" , "Took advantage of" .)