Lead-in to "they"

HESHE

Think of a pair that might come before "said" in a story to avoid naming someone.

This clue plays with the idea of gender-inclusive pronouns. "They" is often used as a singular pronoun, but the "lead-in" hints at the words that come before it in the traditional binary pair: "he" and "she." Combine those two, and you get "HESHE," a clever mashup that fits the clue’s wording.