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Prank ceased being funny when father came in (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

escapade

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'prank' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'ceased being funny when father came in' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'father' could be 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father) and 'pa' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'ceased' is 'escade' which is located in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for escapade that I've seen before include "Exciting, perhaps mischievous, adventure" , "Mischievous romp" , "Piece of reckless mischief" , "Daring stunt" , "Adventurous T [TREAT]" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Globe and Mail.
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