European article following old comedian's simple task (6)
I believe the answer is:
doddle
'simple task' is the definition.
'doddle' can be an answer for 'task' (I have seen 'Easy task' mean 'doddle' so perhaps 'task' could also mean 'doddle'). I'm not certain of the 'simple' bit.
'european article following old comedian's' is the wordplay.
'european article' becomes 'le' (definite article in French).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'old comedian' becomes 'dodd' (Ken Dodd. I am not sure about the 'old' bit.).
'le' after 'dodd' is 'DODDLE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for doddle that I've seen before include "Something easily done" , "Absurdly simple" , "pushover" , "In slang, an easy task" , "Easy crossword?" .)