Closely watched every heartless editor (4)

I believe the answer is:

eyed

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'closely watched' is the definition.
'eyed' can be an answer for 'watched' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'closely' bit.

'every heartless editor' is the wordplay.
'heartless' means to remove the middle letters.
'editor' becomes 'ed' (abbreviation).
'every' with its centre taken out is 'ey'.
'ey'+'ed'='EYED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eyed that I've seen before include "Watched with interest" , "Ogled" , "Viewed" , "Vegetable" , "Stared at" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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