Father figure nowadays (3)
I believe the answer is:
dad
'father figure' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'nowadays' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'nowadays' could be 'ad' (AD, Anno Domini, as opposed to BC, Before Christ) and 'ad' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'd' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dad that I've seen before include "Popular father - a palindrome" , "Father, in short" , "Popular and informal father" , "Old man" , "Mum's mate" .)