Retiring peer left oddly early for comic show (8)
I believe the answer is:
drollery
'comic show' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'retiring peer left oddly early' is the wordplay.
'retiring' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'peer' becomes 'lord' (I've seen this before).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation**).
'oddly' indicates alternate letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
The alternating letters of 'early' are 'ery'.
'lord' written backwards gives 'drol'.
'drol'+'l'+'ery'='DROLLERY'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for drollery that I've seen before include "Jest; buffoonery" , "Jesting" , "jokes" , "Comical quality" , "comedy" .)