Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Barbara McAllister
WORD OF THE DAY: Clew
A clew can be a ball of thread, a guide to solving a problem or part of a sail. The term is no longer used commonly to mean a ball of thread except in novels and maybe occasionally by older people. My grandmother always referred to her ball of knitting yarn as a clew.
In nautical terms it’s part of a sail. Clew lines are the ropes and pulleys that connect the clew of a sail with the mast and is the system used to raise and lower the sails on a ship.
The evolution of the word we know today as “clue” as a piece of information used in solving a mystery, comes from the same word as the ball of thread directly from Greek mythology.
In Greek mythology King Minos had a maze known as a labyrinth where he threw his enemies. Located in his palace, the labyrinth was so complex no one could ever find their way out again. It was home to a terrifying half-man half-bull beast known as the Minotaur who ate intruders.
A visitor, Theseus, from across the sea fell in love with the king’s daughter, Princess Ariadne. To win her father’s blessing, Theseus pledged to kill the Minotaur. The princess feared Theseus would never find his way out of the labyrinth, so she gave him a ball of thread to unwind as he entered the maze. Theseus killed the beast then used the thread to guide him safely back out. Thanks to the clever princess, Theseus successfully escaped the labyrinth.
Today’s “clue” is based on the image of the thread used as a guide out of the maze. A lesser told part of the story is that Theseus ditched Princess Ariadne before even returning home. It might have been better for the princess had she left Theseus clewless.
