Classic saint securing soldier with longer pins (7)

I believe the answer is:

leggier

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'classic saint securing soldier with longer pins' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'classic saint securing soldier' is the wordplay.
'classic saint' becomes 'leger' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'securing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'soldier' becomes 'gi' (GI can mean a US soldier).
'leger' placed around 'gi' is 'LEGGIER'.

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I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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