Making sense out of the big mess construction

Most grammarians are trying to analyze the big mess construction as a noun phrase, but it seems to me that the construction is actually headed by an adjective.

Mary was good

Here, "good" is a predicative adjective.

Mary was as good as Linda

"as...as" is an adverb of degree specifying how good she is. But there is still some ambiguity. She was as good at what?

Mary was as good a cook as Linda

Now the whole phrase "as good a cook as Linda" becomes what is known as the "big mess construction". But, it's my strong belief that the adjective good is the head of the phrase and not the noun cook.

The mysterious part in bold that defies all grammatical explanation can only consist of a noun with an indefinite article, and it only accompanies adverbs of degree, such as "too", "so", "as" etc .

Is it possible that the phrase in bold (a cook) is a complement of 'as' and other adverbs of degree that clarifies what Mary was as good at being?

Solution 1:

I think this pattern is best understood as an abbreviated form: Mary is as good (as) a cook as Linda.

If you choose to look at it this way then the statement is making a comparison of Linda and Mary only in terms of how well they cook: If you look at Mary as a cook and compare her with Linda as a cook, she is as good.

But they may well not be equal when it comes to driving, dancing and so on.

I should add, to avoid misunderstanding) that my use of the word "abbreviated" should not be taken to suggest that the form "Mary is as good as a cook as Linda" is well-formed English.