The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word MAENAD
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
A
E
N
A
D
More clues leading to the result MAENAD
- Wild woman, crazy, eating a nut
- Woman who’s all-round crazy?
- Woman possessed a nut found among bananas
- Girl inducted by crazed bacchante
- Frenzied woman managed to settle after gang leader’s taken away
- Bacchante‘s crazy about another woman
- Ms West, wild and frenzied woman
- Julius entertains a Ms. Dorries
- Extremely annoyed after soldier captures the heart of confessed bacchante
- European and American backing frenzied woman
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a mad woman" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a mad woman = maenad.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does MAENAD mean?
MAENAD noun- A female follower of Dionysus, associated with intense reveling.
- An excessively wild or emotional woman.