Tardy editing tale (4)
I believe the answer is:
late
'tardy' is the definition.
(I know that tardy can be written as late)
'editing tale' is the wordplay.
'editing' is an anagram indicator.
'tale' with letters rearranged gives 'LATE'.
(Other definitions for late that I've seen before include "Behind time; deceased" , "after the sell-by date?" , "Dead - tardy" , "Behindhand" , "near the end" .)