The effectiveness of clever on other people is highly contingent on outside factors, over which you have no control and of which you may not have any knowledge; i.e., just because you intended to be clever doesn’t mean you will be perceived as clever, for all sorts of reasons.
You’re also putting 100% of the responsibility for the communication being received as intended onto the receiver. The conveyer also has a (arguably larger) role to play in the successful conveyance of said sarcasm.
People don’t always understand poorly constructed jokes or satire, and that’s not a reflection of their intelligence (or lack thereof).
Poe’s law teaches us that any satire, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from sincerity.
Or, as John Scalzi puts it:
How “advanced” the satire is is a sliding scale though, depending on the intelligence of the audience.
The medium of delivery also shifts the scale.
You’re also putting 100% of the responsibility for the communication being received as intended onto the receiver. The conveyer also has a (arguably larger) role to play in the successful conveyance of said sarcasm.
People don’t always understand poorly constructed jokes or satire, and that’s not a reflection of their intelligence (or lack thereof).