Crossword Genius

Church chief indicates north and south, say (8,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cardinal points

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'north and south say' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'church chief indicates' is the wordplay.
'church chief' becomes 'cardinal' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'indicates' becomes 'points' ('point' can be a synonym of 'indicate').
'cardinal'+'points'='CARDINAL POINTS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cardinal points that I've seen before include "major directions" , "key directions" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.