Every crossword solver knows the feeling. The grid is nearly complete, a beautiful tapestry of black and white squares filled with your hard-won victories. You’ve navigated the tricky anagrams, dredged up obscure geographical facts, and even figured out that four-letter word for an ancient Mesopotamian ziggurat. Confidence is high. And then you hit it. The wall. The one stubborn crossword clue that brings everything to a grinding halt.
Today’s puzzle presented just such a challenge with a crossword clue that, at first glance, seemed straightforward:
“First in a line of 14 popes.”
My mind immediately did what yours probably did, too. It raced through the annals of papal history. The letter count, of course, is the first gatekeeper. Okay, so how many letters are we looking for? But even with that constraint, the options seem daunting. The clue’s specificity—”a line of 14″—feels like a helpful signpost, but where does it point?
Is this a deep dive into Vatican history? Are we expected to know the regnal names that have been used exactly fourteen times? The mind cycles through the common ones. John? There were more than twenty. Pius? A respectable twelve. Benedict? Sixteen. It seems like a dead end. This isn’t just a simple recall crossword clue; it’s a historical rabbit hole.
Perhaps the clue is even more literal. Maybe it’s referring to the very first pope, Saint Peter? He was certainly the first in a
line
, but a line of far more than 14. That interpretation doesn’t seem to hold up under the pressure of the grid. So, what’s the trick? Every great crossword clue has a twist, a clever bit of wordplay or a perspective shift that turns a frustrating mystery into a delightful “aha!” moment.
This is the kind of crossword clue that separates a simple trivia question from a genuine puzzle. The constructor isn’t just testing our knowledge of pontiffs. They are testing our ability to see past the obvious, to question the very structure of the phrase itself. What does “first” really mean in this context? What is the true significance of “a line of 14”? The answer isn’t buried in an encyclopedia; it’s hidden in plain sight, embedded in the language of the clue itself.
Before we unpack the brilliant misdirection at play here, let’s sit with the initial confusion. It’s the moment of being utterly stumped that makes the eventual solution so satisfying. This crossword clue is a masterclass in leading the solver down a specific path—in this case, a path paved with marble and papal tradition—only to reveal that the destination is somewhere else entirely. It’s a beautiful, elegant trap, and a perfect example of why we love the daily challenge of the crossword puzzle.
Available Answers:
LEO I.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: 0917-25 NY Times Crossword 17 Sep 25, Wednesday