Stopped working around noon and ate (5)
I believe the answer is:
dined
'ate' is the definition.
(dining is a kind of eating)
'stopped working around noon' is the wordplay.
'stopped working' becomes 'died' (I've seen this in another clue).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'noon' becomes 'n'.
'died' placed around 'n' is 'DINED'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dined that I've seen before include "Ate a meal" , "Had supper" .)