Talented soldier meets newspaper editor (6)
I believe the answer is:
gifted
'talented' is the definition.
(I know that talented can be written as gifted)
'soldier meets newspaper editor' is the wordplay.
'soldier' becomes 'gi' (term for US soldier).
'meets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'newspaper' becomes 'FT' (Financial Times newspaper).
'editor' becomes 'ed' (abbreviation).
'gi'+'ft'+'ed'='GIFTED'
(Other definitions for gifted that I've seen before include "Talented, naturally accomplished" , "Possessing natural talent" , "Possessed of natural talent" , "Adept -- given" , "Presented" .)