What part of "may not" or "cannot" in the above rule permits VFR over the
top WITHOUT ground reference?

The fact that you can SEE the ground (have ground reference) through a
broken layer if it's "not that broken", even though you can't legally
descend through it VFR.

The original poster gave me
the impression it was a solid cloud deck below him.

In that case he not only would not be over the top, but he would also
not have ground reference. Two different things at the same time.

Bottom line would be VFR over a solid overcast would be a no no for a
student. VFR over the top over a broken overcast would be legal as long
as the student has the ability to identify surface features.

Yep. My point exactly.

the student pilot is following the letter to the law as he does
have ground references.

Smart no.....
Wise no.....

Ayup. "What's legal isn't always safe, and what's safe isn't always legal."

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
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