Today, with no small degree of hesitation, we revisit the question of the third degree. The third degree, you may remember, refers to "the practice of subjecting of a prisoner to mental or physical torture in an effort to extract a confession."

We confess we were amazed by the amount of feedback we received on the topic. Our correspondents all contacted us in order to tell us about the association between the interrogation sense of the third degree and the attainment of the highest and third degree of Freemasonry. Specifically, they revealed that third degree derives from a Masonic ritual.

As the story has it, in order to become a third-degree mason, a candidate must pass an examination. Different versions describe the test as either a nerve-wracking ordeal or conversely, as a very simple test perceived as difficult by folks outside the secret fraternal order. In any case, the idea is that the brotherhood and its ritual loaned our lexicon the phrase third degree.

Unfortunately, there is no clear evidence of an association between the attainment of the third degree in Freemasonry and an interrogation of some sort. Neither is there any evidence of a conscious allusion to such Masonic practices by early users of the police interrogation sense of third degree.