You’re staring at a grid. It’s a Wednesday. Or maybe a brutal Saturday New York Times puzzle. You see the clue: from the top. Your brain immediately jumps to a dozen different possibilities because, let’s be honest, English is a mess. Are we talking about music? A physical location? Starting over? This is the beauty and the absolute frustration of crossword construction.
A single phrase like from the top can mean wildly different things depending on whether the constructor is feeling merciful or devious. Sometimes it’s a literal direction. Other times, it’s a bit of musician slang.
Crosswords aren’t just about knowing facts. They’re about understanding how constructors manipulate language to hide the answer in plain sight. If you’ve ever been stuck on this specific clue, you aren't alone. It’s a classic for a reason.
The Most Likely Answers for From the Top
When you see from the top in a clue, the most common answer—by a long shot—is AL FINE. Wait, no, that's not quite right. It’s actually usually DA CAPO.
If you grew up taking piano lessons, your teacher probably yelled this at you more than once. Da capo is Italian for "from the head." In sheet music, it’s often abbreviated as D.C. It tells the performer to go back to the very beginning of the piece. Because crossword puzzles love three, four, and five-letter filler, DECAPO or just DC pops up constantly.
But it’s not always a musical term.
Sometimes the answer is ANEW. If you start a task from the top, you’re doing it anew. It’s simple, it’s four letters, and it fits perfectly into those tight corners of the grid where the vowels need to do the heavy lifting. Then there’s AGAIN. It’s less "sophisticated" than anew, but it serves the same purpose.
Why Context in the Grid Changes Everything
You have to look at the suffix or the rest of the clue. If the clue is "From the top, in music," you’re almost certainly looking for DACAPO. If the clue is just "From the top," and it’s four letters? Try ANEW.
If it’s five letters? AGAIN or maybe ABOVE.
Constructors like Will Shortz (NYT) or Patti Varol (LA Times) use these short, common phrases as "glue." They need these words to connect the longer, more exciting "themeless" entries. This is what we call "crosswordese." It’s the vocabulary that only exists in the world of puzzles. Nobody says ALEE or ERNE in real life anymore, but in a crossword, they’re royalty. DACAPO falls right into that camp. It’s a bit niche, but if you do enough puzzles, it becomes second nature.
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Sometimes, the clue is a bit more literal. "From the top" could refer to a boss or an executive. In that case, you might be looking for VP or CEO, though those usually have their own specific indicators.
The Music Theory Behind the Puzzle
Let's nerd out for a second. Why Italian?
Music notation settled on Italian centuries ago. That’s why we have piano, forte, staccato, and our friend da capo. Crossword constructors love these because they provide a high vowel-to-consonant ratio. Look at DACAPO. D-A-C-A-P-O. Three vowels, three consonants. It’s a dream for building a grid.
There is also DAL SEGNO, often abbreviated as DS. This means "from the sign." It’s a cousin to da capo, but instead of going to the very beginning, you go back to a specific squiggle in the music. If you see a two-letter answer for a "from the..." clue, DS is a solid bet, though it's rarer than DC.
When the Clue is a Misdirection
Constructors are sneaky. They love puns.
If the clue is "Viewed from the top?", the answer might be AERIAL. Notice the question mark? In crossword speak, a question mark means "I'm lying to you" or "there's a pun here." It’s not asking for a definition; it’s asking for a leap of logic.
If you see "From the top floor?", maybe the answer is ATTIC.
Think about the physical space of a page. If the clue is "From the top of the page," the answer might be HEADER. If it's a six-letter word for someone who shouts from the top of a mountain, you’re looking for YODELER.
The trick is to stop looking at the phrase as a single unit. Break it apart.
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How to Solve These Faster
Stop guessing and start looking for the "crosses."
If you have _ A _ A _ _, and the clue is "From the top," you can almost guarantee it’s DACAPO. If you have A _ _ _, it’s ANEW.
- Check the length first.
- Look for the "musical" indicator. If "music" or "score" is in the clue, go Italian.
- If it’s a Monday puzzle, it’s probably AGAIN.
- If it’s a Saturday, it’s probably some obscure Latin or a pun you won’t get until you have five of the letters filled in.
The daily struggle of the solver is moving past the literal. We want words to mean what they mean in conversation. But puzzles don't work like that. They work on synonyms of synonyms.
Common Variations of "From the Top"
You’ll see these clues rotated throughout the year. Here is how they usually play out in the major outlets:
- From the top (Music): DACAPO
- From the top (Starting over): ANEW / AGAIN
- From the top (Position): ABOVE / OVER
- From the top (Abbr.): DC
- From the top (In a way): AFRESH
Honestly, the best way to get better at this is just volume. Solve more. You start to see the patterns. You start to realize that "From the top" is just a placeholder for about five specific words that constructors use to fill holes in their grids.
Expert Tips for the Stubborn Grid
If you are stuck on a "from the top" clue and none of the standards fit, look for a "rebus." A rebus is when a constructor crams an entire word or multiple letters into a single square. It’s a common trope in Thursday NYT puzzles.
Maybe the "top" is actually a visual representation. Maybe the word TOP is literally above another word in the grid. This is advanced-level stuff, but it happens. For example, if the answer is HAT, and it’s physically located "above" a word for a person, the clue might just be "From the top."
It's maddening. It's also why we do them.
Breaking Down the "Anew" vs. "Afresh" Debate
Is there a difference? Not really in crossword land. Both are used to fill a four or six-letter gap. AFRESH feels a bit more British or formal, while ANEW is the bread and butter of the American puzzle.
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If you're solving a cryptic crossword (the ones with the crazy clues that look like code), "From the top" might be an "acrostic" indicator. It might be telling you to take the first letter of a series of words in the clue.
Example: "From the top, every single individual" could lead you to ESI. (E from Every, S from Single, I from Individual).
Thankfully, standard American puzzles don't do that as often.
Practical Steps to Master the Grid
To stop getting tripped up by "from the top" and similar filler clues, change your approach to the puzzle. Start by filling in the "short" words first—the three and four-letter ones. These are the skeleton of the puzzle. Once you have the skeleton, the "meat" (the long theme answers) becomes much easier to identify.
Keep a mental list of "musical" crossword terms. AL FINE, CODA, ETUDE, DACAPO, and ADAGIO appear more in crosswords than they do in actual conversations at the symphony.
Focus on the vowels. If you have a word that is mostly vowels, it’s probably one of these common fillers. ANEW and AGAIN are vowel-heavy, making them incredibly useful for constructors.
Next time you see "from the top," don't panic. Count the squares. Check for a music reference. Look for the "A" or the "D." You’ll have it filled in before you can even hum the first few bars of the song.
For your next puzzle, try to identify the "glue" words before you even touch the long theme clues. It builds a foundation of letters that makes the harder clues feel like a breeze. Use a pencil—or the "check" function if you're on an app—and don't be afraid to delete an answer that feels "sorta" right but doesn't quite work with the crosses. Usually, your first instinct is right, but in crosswords, your second instinct (the one that accounts for puns) is the one that actually wins.