How ballerinas perform

ONTOE

Think about the part of their shoe that barely touches the stage during a pirouette.

Ballerinas are famous for dancing en pointe, which means balancing on the tips of their toes using special shoes. The clue plays on this by describing how they perform—literally "on toe." The answer drops the space to fit the crossword format, turning "on toe" into "ONTOE." It’s a straightforward charade where the phrase is condensed into a single word.