Crossword Genius

Clobber funny guys in film (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

equipment

'clobber' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'funny guys in film' is the wordplay.
'funny' becomes 'quip' (I've seen this before**).
'guys' becomes 'men'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'film' becomes 'et'.
'quip'+'men'='quipmen'
'quipmen' inserted inside 'et' is 'EQUIPMENT'.

(Other definitions for equipment that I've seen before include "Items needed for a particular purpose" , "Set of instruments that perform a service" , "fitting" , "Apparatus, gear" , "Apparatus, tools" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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