Covers rigid creature up (9)

I believe the answer is:

laminates

'covers' is the definition.
(laminating is a kind of covering)

'rigid creature up' is the wordplay.
'rigid' becomes 'set' (synonyms).
'creature' becomes 'animal' (synonyms).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'set'+'animal'='setanimal'
'setanimal' back-to-front is 'LAMINATES'.

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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