Religious figures clear — not a good year (6)
I believe the answer is:
clergy
'religious figures' is the definition.
(members of the clergy)
'clear not a good year' is the wordplay.
'not' is a deletion indicator.
'good' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'year' becomes 'y'.
'clear' with 'a' taken out is 'cler'.
'cler'+'g'+'y'='CLERGY'
(Other definitions for clergy that I've seen before include "Ordained minister of the church" , "Ordained churchmen" , "Officials of religions" , "Religious officials" , "Priests or ministers of the Christian churches" .)