The Tories lose nothing by such experiments (5)
I believe the answer is:
tries
'such experiments' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'the tories lose nothing' is the wordplay.
'lose' is a deletion indicator.
'nothing' becomes 'O' (looks like zero - 0).
'tories' with 'o' taken away is 'TRIES'.
'by' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tries that I've seen before include "Scoring moves in rugby" , "Attempts" .)