Did Dick turn out to be awfully good? (6)
I believe the answer is:
turpin
'awfully good?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'did dick turn out' is the wordplay.
'did dick' becomes 'pi' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'out' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'pi' put into 'turn' is 'TURPIN'.
'to be' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for turpin that I've seen before include "Dick ... was famous English highwayman" , "Dick ...... was a legendary highwayman" , "One who preyed on travellers" , "Dick.....was famous English highwayman" , "Dick ... was notorious English highwayman" .)