Crossword Genius

Girl that is unhappy to start with (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sadie

'girl' is the definition.

'that is unhappy to start with' is the wordplay.
'that is' becomes 'ie' (short for Latin 'id est', 'that is').
'unhappy' becomes 'sad' (synonyms).
'to start with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ie' put after 'sad' is 'SADIE'.

(Another definition for sadie that I've seen is " Woman".)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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