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Foolishly joker indicated smaller amount left at the end of the day (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

witlessly

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'foolishly' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adverbs.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'joker indicated smaller amount left at the end of the day' is the wordplay.
'joker' becomes 'wit' (a witty person).
'indicated' becomes 'less' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'smaller amount' suggests taking the first letters (I've seen 'smallest amount of' mean this).
'at the end of' says to take the final letters.
The initial letter of 'left' is 'l'.
The last letter of 'day' is 'y'.
'wit'+'less'+'l'+'y'='WITLESSLY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for witlessly that I've seen is " In a daft way".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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