Drop off and admit having stopped working earlier (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
die down
'drop off' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to change as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'admit having stopped working earlier' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'admit' could be 'own' (own can mean to admit or acknowledge) and 'own' is found within the answer.
'stopped' could be 'died' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'died' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for die down that I've seen before include "Become less loud" , "Become less intense" , "Subside" , "Quieten" , "Become less loud/strong" .)