A lower corner of a sail on a ship, or a ball of thread or yarn; also an archaic spelling of 'clue.'
From Old English cliewe meaning 'ball of thread.' In Greek mythology, Ariadne gave Theseus a clew of thread to find his way through the labyrinth, so 'clew' became synonymous with 'clue' (a guiding thread).
The Ariadne myth literally created our word 'clue'—a physical thread of yarn became a metaphor for solving puzzles, and sailors used the same word for the corners of their sails where ropes gathered, as if bundling solutions.
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