Soldier punching awful weed pulling prank on American (6)

I believe the answer is:

wedgie

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'pulling prank on american' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'soldier punching awful weed' is the wordplay.
'soldier' becomes 'GI' (GI can mean a US soldier).
'punching' indicates putting letters inside (some letters punch a hole in others).
'awful' indicates an anagram.
'weed' anagrammed gives 'wede'.
'gi' placed within 'wede' is 'WEDGIE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for wedgie that I've seen before include "Underwear-based practical joke" , "eye-watering jerk?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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