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The word "clue" originally meant "ball of twine."

That's why you unravel clues to solve a mystery...

Word Origin & History

clue

phonetic variant of clew  (q.v.) "a ball of thread or yarn," with reference to the one Theseus used as a guide out of the Labyrinth. The purely figurative sense of "that which points the way" is from 1620s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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