Impressed by creative crossword clue

  I often enjoy solving clues in the Times-News laid out by prolific puzzler Jacqueline Mathews. Sometimes I’m near completion, and then with a little help from my friends we crack the whole thing. Last summer on a break from work, Noah and I discovered a unique mind-bender; the clue for 54 across was: “Adam didn’t have one, if you think about it.” We needed five letters across, but checking the down clues, we had only unraveled one; which indicated the middle letter for our answer would be “V.”

We returned to work, placing the puzzle aside and though we kept picking it up later, couldn’t figure out what Adam was missing. A good wife? Some ribs? Snake repellant?  In the evening after mulling over the clues more, Eureka! I answered it. Adam didn’t have a navel – if you think about it! I called Noah and he was equally tickled about Adam’s belly button. Then, with the gift of Google we researched paintings of Adam from over the ages and realized that dozens of Renaissance painters had not considered it either, because smack dab next to Adams rib was residual evidence of his umbilical cord leading to a larger Great Mystery.