What does the cryptic crossword clue "Dear Sir, this editorial's extraordinarily pretentious, first of all (5)" mean?

The definition is "Dear". The wordplay uses a charade (building blocks). S (abbreviation="Sir,") + T (abbreviation="this") + E (first_letter="editorial's") + E (first_letter="extraordinarily") + P (first_letter="pretentious,") = STEEP; definition: "Dear" The answer is Steep.

Dear Sir, this editorial's extraordinarily pretentious, first of all (5)

Telegraph Prize Cryptic #3060 | 10 Across | 2020-06-14 flower

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