Lived up to a bad name (5)
I believe the answer is:
devil
'a bad name' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'lived up' is the wordplay.
'up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'lived' back-to-front is 'DEVIL'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for devil that I've seen before include "Coat spicily; do hackwork" , "Lucifer" , "Demon" , "Lived with Satan" , "Beelzebub, Satan" .)