You're staring at your phone, the New York Times Crossword app is open, and you've got three letters filled in that make absolutely no sense together. The clue is starting point of sorts, and your brain is cycling through every possible synonym for "beginning" or "origin." Maybe it's "alpha"? No, doesn't fit the grid. "Root"? Too short. Then it hits you—the "of sorts" part isn't just flavor text. It's a warning.
In the world of Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano, "of sorts" is a nudge that the answer is metaphorical, punny, or specific to a very particular context. If you’re stuck on this today, you aren't alone. These types of clues are designed to be the "aha!" moments that separate a casual solver from someone who can breeze through a Friday or Saturday puzzle.
The Most Common Answer: SQUARE ONE
When you see starting point of sorts nyt crossword, the answer is very often SQUARE ONE.
Think about the board game idiom. When you fail at something, you go back to square one. It’s a literal starting point on a board, but a figurative one in life. The New York Times editors love this because it's a perfect 9-letter fit for many mid-week puzzles. It uses common vowels and high-frequency consonants, making it a "glue" entry that helps constructors bridge difficult sections of the grid.
But here’s where it gets tricky. "Square one" isn't just an idiom. It’s a geometric reference. Sometimes the clue isn't looking for a phrase; it's looking for a specific location.
Why "Of Sorts" Changes Everything
Crossword constructors use "of sorts" to signal that the definition is loose. If the clue was just "Starting point," the answer might be BASIS or GENESIS. But adding those two little words opens the door to TEE, as in a golf tee. Or TOE, if the clue is referring to the line you stand behind in a game of darts.
I’ve seen this clue resolve to SCRATCH. If you’re "starting from scratch," you’re beginning with nothing. In the 19th century, this literally referred to a line scratched into the ground for a race. If you’re a sports fan, you might think of KICKOFF or TIPOFF, though those are usually clued more specifically.
Then there’s the more abstract stuff. AERIE. A starting point for a bird's first flight. WOMB. The literal starting point of a human. These are the types of answers that make you want to throw your phone across the room until you see the cross-letters (the "downs" that intersect the "across") and realize the logic was there all along.
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The Grid Mechanics of the NYT Crossword
To understand why a clue like starting point of sorts nyt crossword appears so frequently, you have to understand the construction process. People like Robyn Weintraub or Brendan Emmett Quigley don't just pick words they like. They are working within a rigid symmetry.
Every NYT puzzle is rotationally symmetrical. If you turn it 180 degrees, the black squares stay in the same place. This means constructors often get stuck with specific letter patterns. If they have a 9-letter gap that ends in "E," SQUARE ONE is a lifesaver. It’s what we call "crosswordese-adjacent." It’s a real phrase, but it’s used so often because its letter distribution is incredibly friendly to the grid.
Real Examples from Recent Archives
Let's look at some actual iterations of this clue.
In a recent Tuesday puzzle, the answer was SQUARE ONE. The "of sorts" referred to the fact that it was a literal square in the grid. In a much harder Saturday puzzle, the answer was actually BASE. Why? Because a base in baseball is a starting point for a run, but it’s also a "sort of" starting point because you have to return there.
Wait, it gets weirder.
- ENTRY FEE: A starting point for a tournament (the literal start of your participation).
- SEED: The starting point of a plant, but also a starting position in a tennis bracket.
- DEBUT: A starting point for a career.
- ALPHA: The Greek starting point.
If you’re stuck right now, look at your grid. Is the word three letters? Try TEE. Four letters? Try BASE or ROOT. Nine letters? It’s almost certainly SQUARE ONE.
Why Your Brain Struggles with These Clues
Psychologically, humans are wired for direct definitions. When we see "Starting point," we want a synonym. But the NYT Crossword is a game of lateral thinking. It’s less about vocabulary and more about pattern recognition and understanding the "voice" of the editor.
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Joel Fagliano, who currently leads the puzzle, tends to favor contemporary phrasing and clever misdirection. Under his tenure, we've seen an increase in clues that use punctuation or "of sorts" to indicate a pun.
If you are a beginner, the best thing you can do is "fill around" the clue. Don't waste ten minutes staring at the blank white squares for starting point of sorts. Move to the downs. If you get a 'Q' from a down clue, you instantly know the answer is SQUARE ONE. If you get a 'Z,' you might be looking at ZERO or ZONE.
The "Step-Up" Strategy for Solvers
Most people solve the NYT Crossword in a "U" shape or by clusters. If you hit a clue like this and can't solve it, it's usually because you're treating it as a trivia question. It’s not. It’s a spatial puzzle.
- Check the count. How many letters?
- Check the day of the week. Monday/Tuesday clues are literal. Friday/Saturday clues are almost always puns or obscure references.
- Look for the "?". If there’s a question mark at the end of "Starting point of sorts?", the answer is definitely a pun. It might be BIRTH, or it might be something like MEENA (if the puzzle has a theme about beginnings).
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
The biggest mistake is getting "married" to an answer. You think it's SQUARE ONE, so you write it in. Then the down clues don't work. You try to force the down clues to fit your wrong answer.
Honestly, just delete it.
Blank space is better than wrong letters. Wrong letters lead to "ghosting," where your brain refuses to see other possibilities because it's so focused on the letters already there. Crossword experts call this "ink-trap" (a carryover from the days of solving in the Sunday paper with a pen).
Another pitfall? Ignoring the theme. If the puzzle's title is "Back to Basics" or "Round One," the answer to starting point of sorts is going to be a thematic element. It might be A, the first letter of the alphabet, or ONE.
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Pro-Tips for the Harder Puzzles
As you move into Thursday and Friday puzzles, the "of sorts" clues get devious.
Sometimes the "starting point" isn't a thing—it's a person. ADAM is a classic NYT answer for "Starting point of sorts" in a biblical context. EVE works too. If the puzzle has a nautical theme, you might see BOW. If it’s about math, ORIGIN (the 0,0 point on a graph).
I remember one specific puzzle where the answer was THE LETTER S. Why? Because 'S' is the starting point of the word "sorts." That is the peak of NYT cruelty, and it’s why we love it.
Actionable Steps for Your Grid
If you are currently looking at the clue starting point of sorts nyt crossword and you're frustrated, do these three things right now:
- Count the letters again. If it's 9, type in SQUAREONE (don't worry about the space).
- Check the intersecting clues for vowels. Crosswords almost always alternate consonants and vowels. If you have a consonant in the second spot, the first is likely a vowel.
- Look for "rebus" squares. If it’s a Thursday, a single square might hold multiple letters like "START" or "BEGIN."
Ultimately, the NYT crossword is a conversation between you and the constructor. They want you to get it, but they want you to work for it. When you finally fill in those boxes and the app gives you that little musical chime, the frustration of the "of sorts" clue disappears. It turns into a little hit of dopamine.
Keep moving through the grid. Don't let one clue stall your momentum. Usually, the answer to a tricky clue is revealed by the easiest clues around it. If you get the "gimmes" (the easy trivia or fill-in-the-blank clues), the harder ones like "starting point of sorts" will solve themselves through the process of elimination.
Stop overthinking the "of sorts" and start looking at the cross-letters. The answer is usually simpler than your brain wants it to be. Whether it's BASE, TEE, or the classic SQUARE ONE, the grid never lies.