Crossword Genius

Cruel? Take him out, simple! (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

artless

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'simple' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'cruel? take him out' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'take' could be 'r' (abbreviation for 'recipe', Latin for 'take') and 'r' is located in the answer.
'him' could be 'les' and 'les' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ats' 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 artless that I've seen before include "Naive - unskilful" , "Natural like slaters" , "Natural - uncontrived" , "Without pretension" , "Without guile or affectation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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