Stumped by this cheese-inspired Maine college clue? Here’s the answer!

As a detective, my first step in solving this mystery was to take note of the clues at hand: “Maine college” and “variety of cheese.” Knowing that Maine is home to several colleges and universities, I narrowed down the possibilities to those that could potentially have a connection to cheese. After researching different varieties of cheese, my attention was drawn to Colby cheese, a semi-hard cheese traditionally made in the town of Colby, Wisconsin.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that Colby-Sawyer College, a small private liberal arts college in New London, New Hampshire, was in fact founded by a man named Colby, who was born in nearby Bowdoinham, Maine. After reviewing the facts and analyzing the connections, it became clear that the answer to the crossword clue was COLBY. Colby-Sawyer College and Colby cheese both derived their names from the same man, making COLBY the perfect answer to this intriguing puzzle.