Clergyman, not very upper-class, succeeded as a high-flyer (6)
I believe the answer is:
icarus
'high-flyer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'clergyman not very upper-class succeeded as a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'succeeded' could be 's' (genealogical abbreviation) and 's' is found in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
'upper-class' could be 'u' (similar in meaning) and 'u' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'icr' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for icarus that I've seen before include "In Greek myth, he flew too close to the sun and died" , "made a dangerous flight" , "one with disintegrating wings" , "Failed flier" , "Unfortunate high-flier in Greek mythology" .)