Crossword Genius

Funny business with spades covered up by GI (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

jocose

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'funny' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'business with spades covered up by gi' is the wordplay.
'business' becomes 'co' (short for company).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'spades' becomes 's' (abbreviation in card games).
'covered up by' indicates putting letters inside.
'gi' becomes 'joe' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'co'+'s'='cos'
'cos' put inside 'joe' is 'JOCOSE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for jocose that I've seen before include "Jesting and playful" , "Laughing" , "Playful, making jokes" , "Jesting, humourous" , "Merry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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