Crossword Genius

Religious leader with holy book, as opposed to ordinals (8,7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cardinal numbers

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

'ordinals' is the definition.
(I know this)

'religious leader with holy book as opposed' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'leader' could be 'cardinal' (cardinal is a kind of leader) and 'cardinal' is located in the answer.
'book' could be 'numbers' (book of the Bible) and 'numbers' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cardinal numbers that I've seen before include "Two and three, for example" , "Figures" , "One or two perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app