Crossword Genius

Segregate one arriving as unpunctual as this (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

isolate

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

'segregate one' is the definition.
(I know that segregate is a type of isolate)

'arriving as unpunctual as this' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'as' could be 'so' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'so' is found in the answer.
'unpunctual' could be 'late' (similar in meaning) and 'late' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'i' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for isolate that I've seen before include "Place or set apart" , "Cut off; quarantine" , "Detach" , "Ostracise" , "Put into quarantine" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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