He turns up, just as mum would (3)
I believe the answer is:
dad
'he turns up just as mum would' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'he turns up just as mum would' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'he' could be 'ad' and 'ad' is located in the answer.
'would' could be 'd' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'd' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dad that I've seen before include "Father, in short" , "Relation" , "Pop, pater" , "Popular father - a palindrome" , "Papa" .)