Crossword Genius

Draw back, as soldiers getting cold, needing fuel (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

recoil

'draw back' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'soldiers getting cold needing fuel' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'needing' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'fuel' becomes 'oil' (I've seen this before).
're'+'c'+'oil'='RECOIL'

'as' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for recoil that I've seen before include "kickback" , "Flinch, shrink back in fear" , "Flich or kick back" , "Fossil reptile" , "Flinch or start back (6)." .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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