Crossword Genius

Creative labour devilishly hard I know! (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

handiwork

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'creative labour' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.

'devilishly hard i know' is the wordplay.
'hard i know' anagrams to 'HANDIWORK'.
Though, I am not sure how this is indicated.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for handiwork that I've seen before include "one's doing" , "Manual creation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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