One offering a shoulder to cry on, maybe? (5)
I believe the answer is:
crony
'one offering a shoulder' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'cry on maybe?' is the wordplay.
'maybe?' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'maybe' mean this).
'cry'+'on'='cryon'
'cryon' with letters rearranged gives 'CRONY'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crony that I've seen before include "Close friend" , "Corny (anag.)" , "mate" , "Intimate companion" , "China" .)