He may be simply saintly (5)

I believe the answer is:

simon

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'he may be simply saintly' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'he may be simply' is the wordplay.
'he' becomes 'Sim'.
'may be simply' becomes 'on' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sim'+'on'='SIMON'

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(Other definitions for simon that I've seen before include "- and Garfunkel" , "- Templar, The Saint" , "Peter (NT)" , "A simple character in nursery rhyme" , "Harris and Coveney" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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