Poet worked hard, endlessly spinning around (5)
I believe the answer is:
eliot
'poet' is the definition.
(TS Eliot)
'worked hard endlessly spinning around' is the wordplay.
'worked hard' becomes 'toiled' (I've seen this before).
'endlessly' means to remove the last letter.
'spinning around' says the letters should be written backwards.
'toiled' with its final letter taken away is 'toile'.
'toile' backwards is 'ELIOT'.
(Other definitions for eliot that I've seen before include "Pseudonymous writer" , "Murder in the Cathedral author" , "See 14" , "T.S. or George?" , "Author of Adam Bede, d.1880" .)