Notice in Daily Express initially a mockery? (7)
I believe the answer is:
charade
'a mockery?' is the definition.
('charade' can be a synonym of 'mockery')
'notice in daily express initially' is the wordplay.
'notice' becomes 'ad'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'daily' becomes 'char' (I've seen this before).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'express' is 'e'.
'char'+'e'='chare'
'ad' placed within 'chare' is 'CHARADE'.
(Other definitions for charade that I've seen before include "Pretence - travesty" , "Ridiculous pretence" , "Farce - mime" , "Sustained pretence" , "An absurd pretence, or a guessing game" .)