Crossword Genius

... while soldiers from the east getting shot outside is matter-of-fact (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

prosaic

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'matter-of-fact' is the definition.
(I know that matter-of-fact can be written as prosaic)

'while soldiers from the east getting shot outside' is the wordplay.
'while' becomes 'as' (eg 'while I walked' means 'as I walked').
'soldiers' becomes 'OR' (Other Ranks).
'from the east' says the letters should be written backwards (on a map from right to left).
'getting shot' becomes 'pic' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'outside' indicates putting letters inside.
'as'+'or'='asor'
'asor' written backwards gives 'rosa'.
'rosa' going into 'pic' is 'PROSAIC'.

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for prosaic that I've seen before include "Is a crop (anag) - unimaginative" , "So Capri! (anag)" , "Banal" , "Mundane" , "Lacking wit or imagination, dull" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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