A half-dozen of you have written to ask or correct me about my use of the word "lede" in a recent item here. No, it's not a typo. Many journalism teachers tell you that the part of a story that contains the key info is the "lede," pronounced to rhyme with "bead" or "seed." Usually, it's the opening paragraph and when a reporter doesn't open with that info in some manner, he's said to be "burying the lede."
Now, obviously, the word should be spelled "lead." According to legend, it was…but there was some confusion in pressrooms with the word "lead" (denoting the metal). A lot of the type was fashioned out of the metal and both editors and pressmen often had to write memos about changing the "leading" (i.e., spacing) on a headline. At some point, it reportedly became simpler to change the spelling of the word when referring to the main section of a story.
At least, that's the way it was explained to me when I learned to spell the word in its journalistic context. Since "lead" (the metal) no longer figures into the life of most folks in the news business, the old spelling seems to be returning. So either is correct.