Crossword Genius

He gets terribly involved in the affair (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

matter

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'affair' is the definition.
(I know that affair can be written as matter)

'he gets terribly involved' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'he' could be 'matt' and 'matt' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'er' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for matter that I've seen before include "Substance; be important" , "Substance; topic" , "It occupies space, unlike mind or spirit" , "Stuff - mean something" , "Substance - signify" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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