They looked at him as if they were hiding some clever, subtle, private joke.

I sincerely hope that your appalling spelling and grammar is a subtle joke.

At times like this, Montana used to tell a subtle joke or light somebody's shoe on fire, but he was gone.

And one very subtle joke I never realised until just now.

Tesla had, to be sure, a sense of humor and enjoyed putting over a subtle joke.

As always, the dark woman seemed amused, as though she had caught the universe in the act of playing a subtle joke.

I went back, thinking that it was maybe one of Arnie's subtle little jokes.

It seemed to them to be a very subtle joke.

Meg was left with the supposition that he had made a subtle joke she hadn't understood.

It was all intended as a subtle joke.