Very good columnist ultimately in Hell (3)
I believe the answer is:
pit
'hell' is the definition.
('the pit' can mean hell)
'very good columnist ultimately' is the wordplay.
'very good' becomes 'pi' (pi can mean pious).
'ultimately' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'columnist' is 't'.
'pi'+'t'='PIT'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for pit that I've seen before include "Large hole; mine" , "part of theatre" , "where orchestra plays" , "Cherry stone" , "Hellhole?" .)