Light needed initially enters after noon (7)
I believe the answer is:
lantern
'light' is the definition.
(lantern is a type of light)
'needed initially enters after noon' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'enters' is an insertion indicator.
'after' becomes 'later' (I've seen this before).
'noon' becomes 'n' (abbreviation for noon).
The initial letter of 'needed' is 'n'.
'n' put into 'later' is 'lanter'.
'lanter'+'n'='LANTERN'
(Other definitions for lantern that I've seen before include "Top of lighthouse" , "Light in a protective casing" , "It illuminates" , "Transparent case for holding a light" , "Type of lamp" .)