Crossword Genius

Aunt Sally's happy family? (8,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

laughing stock

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

'aunt sally's' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'happy family?' is the wordplay.
'happy' becomes 'laughing' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'family?' becomes 'stock' (family is a kind of stock).
'laughing'+'stock'='LAUGHING-STOCK'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for laughing stock that I've seen before include "Butt of ridicule" , "Object to joke" , "Target of ridicule" , "inhabitants of funny farm?" , "Object of ridicule" .)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app