Awfully big place with nothing in it but sand? (4)
I believe the answer is:
gobi
'it but sand?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'awfully big place with nothing' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'nothing' could be 'o' (looks like zero - 0) and 'o' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'big' is 'gbi' which is within the left over letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gobi that I've seen before include "Desert in China/Mongolia; cauliflower (Ind.)" , "Sandy area" , "Arid region in central Asia, and 38 across" , "Mongolian/Chinese desert" , "very dry place" .)