Crossword Genius

Tiny resilient creature is slow sort, they say (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tardigrade

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

'tiny resilient creature' is the definition.
'tardigrade' can be an answer for 'creature' (tardigrade is a kind of animal). I am unsure of the 'tiny resilient' bit.

'slow sort they say' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'sort' could be 'grade' (grading is a kind of sorting) and 'grade' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for tardigrade that I've seen is " See water bear".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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