Can this be right? My Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary — less than 20 years old — has this definition of “clue”:

var of CLEW

That’s it. Sure enough, the full definition can be found under “clew.” Now, I like to pride myself in having more than a passing familiarity with words, but never in my life have I seen “clew,” not even in a failed attempt at the past tense of “claw.”

Am I alone in this?