Troublemaker, a scallywag at heart (6)

I believe the answer is:

rascal

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'troublemaker a scallywag at heart' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'troublemaker a scallywag at heart' is the wordplay.
'troublemaker' becomes 'ras' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a scallywag' becomes 'rapscallion' ('rapscallion' can be a synonym of 'scallywag').
'at heart' says to take the centre.
The middle of 'rapscallion' is 'cal'.
'ras'+'cal'='RASCAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rascal that I've seen before include "Cad" , "A mischievous and maybe dishonest person" , "wretch" , "Rogue, scamp" , "Impudent child" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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