Notepaper is soft nowadays (3)
I believe the answer is:
pad
'notepaper' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.
'soft nowadays' is the wordplay.
'soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for piano, 'soft').
'nowadays' becomes 'AD' (AD, Anno Domini, as opposed to BC, Before Christ).
'p'+'ad'='PAD'
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pad that I've seen before include "Number of sheets of paper fastened together" , "wearing this?" , "It's found on an animals's foot and a cricketer's leg" , "Stuff the animal's foot" , "Walk softly on flat or bedsit" .)