Speculation is swirling over who penned the bombshell New York Times op-ed, with eagle-eyed readers pointing to an archaic word — lodestar — as a possible clue.

The anonymous author, identified only as a “senior official in the Trump administration,” dropped the uncommon noun in the second-to-last paragraph of the piece published Wednesday.

“We may no longer have Senator McCain,” the mystery person wrote. “But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.”

In the op-ed, the person admits that they’re part of a high-ranking White House faction that’s “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations.”

Merriam-Webster defines “lodestar” as a star that leads or guides, or someone who serves as an inspiration, model or guide.

It’s a buzzword that’s been uttered by Vice President Mike Pence several times over the years — though on Thursday, a spokesman strongly denied Pence was behind the op-ed.

“The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts,” Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen tweeted.

Other top Trump administration officials have also issued denials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Members of the befuddled public, however, were quick to point out that Mark Felt — who leaked details of President Richard Nixon’s Watergate cover-up to the Washington Post as anonymous source “Deep Throat” — spent decades denying his involvement in the presidential scandal that rocked the early 1970s.

Felt only outed himself as “Deep Throat” in 2006, at age 91, in an interview with Vanity Fair.