The potman accepts hard work by Rodin (3,7)
I believe the answer is:
the thinker
'rodin' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'the potman accepts hard work' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'het' which is located in the answer.
'hard' could be 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications) and 'h' is present in the answer.
'work' could be 'tinker' (tinkering is a kind of working) and 'tinker' is found in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'by' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for the thinker that I've seen is " Famous sculpture by Rodin".)