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Get real — as one might first thing before breakfast? (4,2,3,5,3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wake up and smell the coffee

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'breakfast?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'get real as one might first thing before' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'real' could be 'e' (e is a kind of real) and 'e' is located in the answer.
'one' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is found within the answer.
'first' could be 'a' (first letter of the alphabet) and 'a' is found within the answer.
'before' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for wake up and smell the coffee that I've seen before include "Get real!" , "Full of beans after such a rousing call?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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