Retired journalist was waiting for fitting? (8)

I believe the answer is:

deserved

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'fitting?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'retired journalist was waiting' is the wordplay.
'retired' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'was waiting' becomes 'served' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'ed' reversed gives 'de'.
'de'+'served'='DESERVED'

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deserved that I've seen before include "Merited" , "Fitting" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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