Crossword Genius

In a frenzy, a mess (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

amuck

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

'in a frenzy' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a mess' is the wordplay.
'mess' becomes 'muck' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a'+'muck'='AMUCK'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for amuck that I've seen before include "Behaving disruptively" , "In a frenzy" , "Run this way to rush about violently and out of control" , "A mess gets one" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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