Crossword Genius

Starting point for Swiss city lacking top wine (8)

Ross

I think it could be either:

Which length description are you looking for?:

4

8

baseline

'starting point' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'swiss city lacking top wine' is the wordplay.
'swiss city' becomes 'basel' (I've seen this before).
'lacking top' means to remove the first letter.
'wine' with its initial letter taken away is 'ine'.
'basel'+'ine'='BASELINE'

'for' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for baseline that I've seen before include "Out beyond this" , "Marks limit of play on tennis court" , "yardstick" , "Back of tennis court - standard" , "Starting point" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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