a state of confusion; ritual accompanied by complicated and purposeless activity that obscures and confuses; "he engaged in the hugger-mugger of international finance";
conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilizati;
in utter disorder; "a disorderly pile of clothes";
