It turned soft at the end (3)
I believe the answer is:
tip
'the end' is the definition.
(tip is a kind of end)
'it turned soft' is the wordplay.
'turned' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for piano, 'soft').
'it' backwards is 'ti'.
'ti'+'p'='TIP'
'at' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tip that I've seen before include "given gratuitously" , "Hint about a horse" , "Pointed extremity" , "Gratuity or light touch" , "single piece of asparagus, perhaps" .)