Overture started very loudly; finished with ruffled feathers! (8)
I believe the answer is:
offended
'ruffled feathers' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with human feelings as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'overture started very loudly finished' is the wordplay.
'started' says to take the initial letters.
'very loudly' becomes 'ff' (short for fortissimo, 'very loud' in music).
'finished' becomes 'ended' ('end' can be a synonym of 'finish').
The first letter of 'overture' is 'o'.
'o'+'ff'+'ended'='OFFENDED'
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for offended that I've seen before include "Upset" , "Caused to feel hurt" , "Committed an illegal act" , "Hurt the feelins of" , "Annoyed because of a perceived insult" .)