comma btw adjective and noun: a tiring, seemingly endless, routine

[8769]

A sentence below is part of what I transcribed, listening to a radio program. The blank below is where I got stuck. The commentator, an educated American woman, is talking about the word “rat race.”

Which, #1 or #2 below, do you think is more appropriate, when written down?
1. endless
2. endless,

The "rat race" refers to a tiring, seemingly ( ) routine in an often competitive, busy environment.
​

I chose #1, but I’m not sure if it is correct.

 

[panjandrum]

It has to be #2 for me.
"seemingly endless" is an aside, an explanation, a parenthetical comment.
It is not essential to the sentence and could be omitted.
It needs bracketing commas - one on either side.

 

[nzseries1]

#1 is correct here.
#2 is definitely incorrect.

EDIT:
After seeing panjandrum's comments, I think he has a point. But still, #2 I think sounds awkward when said aloud.

 

[panjandrum]

Alternatively ...
It has to be #1 for me.
"seemingly endless" is a compound adjective.
A sequence of modifiers uses listing commas.
As the final adjective in that sequence it has a comma before, but not after.

Edit: Apologies, nzseries. I had hoped I would be contradicting myself immediately

 

[nzseries1]

Alternatively ...
It has to be #1 for me.
"seemingly endless" is a compound adjective.
A sequence of modifiers uses listing commas.
As the final adjective in that sequence it has a comma before, but not after.

That was my reasoning as well. I don't think it is an aside, or an unrelated idea. I think it has to be #1.

 

[AngelEyes]

The "rat race" refers to a tiring, seemingly endless routine in an often competitive, busy environment.

I pick this structure because I think that seemingly is an adverb that modifies the second adjective, endless, in the sentence.

You could use seemingly with busy and have the same situation.

AngelEyes