Less composed editor fighting American over royalty (6)

I believe the answer is:

edgier

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'less composed' is the definition.

'editor fighting american over royalty' is the wordplay.
'editor' becomes 'ed'.
'fighting american over' becomes 'gi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'royalty' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'ed'+'gi'+'er'='EDGIER'

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(Other definitions for edgier that I've seen before include "More brittle" , "More nervous" , "More jittery" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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