Clinton's last defense secretary

COHEN

["Here’s a helpful hint for the clue **\"Clinton's last defense secretary\"** with the answer **\"COHEN\"**:\n\n**\"Take the final letter of the president's name and pair it with a homophone for 'coy' to get this surname.\"**\n\nThis hint guides the solver toward the wordplay without giving away the answer directly. It breaks down the key steps:\n1. **\"Clinton's last\"** → The last letter of \"Clinton\" is **\"N\"**.\n2. **\"Defense secretary\"** → A homophone or near-homophone for \"coy\" (sounding like \"COHE\").\n3. Combining them gives **\"COHEN\"**.\n\nThe hint avoids repeating the original clue and provides a clearer path to the solution while still requiring some deduction."]

The clue **"Clinton's last defense secretary"** leads to the answer **"COHEN"** through the following reasoning: 1. **Surface Meaning**: The clue appears to refer to a person who served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton. However, this is a misdirection. 2. **Wordplay Breakdown**: - **"Clinton's last"** suggests taking the last name of Bill Clinton, which is **"Clinton"**, and then taking its **"last"** (final) letter: **"N"**. - **"Defense secretary"** is a cryptic hint for **"COHE"**, which sounds like **"coy"** (a homophone or near-homophone for "secretary" in some dialects, though this is a stretch). Alternatively, it may play on **"COHEN"** as a surname meaning "priest" in Hebrew, but this is less likely. - Combining **"N"** (from "Clinton's last") with **"COHE"** gives **"COHEN"**. 3. **Alternative Interpretation**: - The answer may also be a pun on **"Cohen"** as a surname, with the clue implying a play on words rather than a direct reference to a real defense secretary. 4. **Conclusion**: The clue relies on a combination of letter extraction ("Clinton's last" = "N") and a cryptic or homophonic hint for the rest of the word ("defense secretary" = "COHE"), leading to **"COHEN"**. *Note*: This is a somewhat obscure or tricky clue, as there is no actual Defense Secretary named Cohen under Clinton. The wordplay is the key to solving it.