One who praises figures I work on some time afterwards (8)
I believe the answer is:
idolater
'one who praises figures' is the definition.
'i work on some time afterwards' is the wordplay.
'work' becomes 'do' ('do work' can be a synonym of 'work'**).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'some time afterwards' becomes 'later'.
'i'+'do'+'later'='IDOLATER'
(Other definitions for idolater that I've seen before include "No orthodox believer" , "Tailored to worshipper of graven images" , "devoted fan" , "devotee" , "Heathen" .)