Crossword Genius

Unsophisticated alert botched on ship (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

artless

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

'alert botched on ship' is the wordplay.
'botched' indicates anagramming the letters.
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'alert' with letters rearranged gives 'artle'.
'artle'+'ss'='ARTLESS'

(Other definitions for artless that I've seen before include "Free from cunning" , "Nave" , "as an empty gallery" , "Naive - unskilful" , "Without guile or affectation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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