Crossword Genius

A saint, yet almost a sin (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

simon

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'sin' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'a saint yet almost a' is the wordplay.
'a saint yet' becomes 'sim' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'a' becomes 'one'.
'one' with its final letter removed is 'on'.
'sim'+'on'='SIMON'

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(Other definitions for simon that I've seen before include "One of Christ's apostles" , "He's simple in rhyme" , "- Templar, The Saint" , "Harris and Coveney" , "Simple pieman" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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