Taking little time to assess as below standard (6-4)
I believe the answer is:
second-rate
'taking little' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'time to assess as below standard' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'time' could be 'second' (unit of time) and 'second' is found within the answer.
'assess' could be 'rate' (rating is a kind of assessing) and 'rate' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for second-rate that I've seen before include "Inferior" , "Of mediocre quality" , "Poor" , "Substandard" , "Shoddy" .)