Crossword Genius

Festival conductor is out of control (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

haywire

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'is out of control' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'festival conductor' is the wordplay.
'festival' becomes 'hay' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'conductor' becomes 'wire' (wire is a kind of conductor).
'hay'+'wire'='HAYWIRE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for haywire that I've seen before include "Mad" , "Malfunctioning badly" , "Not working properly" , "Erratic (colloq.)" , "nuts" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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