The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word ORIENTATION
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
R
I
E
N
T
A
T
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O
N
More clues leading to the result ORIENTATION
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Basic preferences" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case basic preferences = orientation.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ORIENTATION mean?
ORIENTATION noun- The determination of the relative position of something or someone.
- The relative physical position or direction of something.
- The construction of a Christian church to have its aisle in an east-west direction with the altar at the east end.
- An inclination, tendency or direction.
- The ability to orient.
- An adjustment to a new environment.
- An introduction to a (new) environment.
- The direction of print across the page; landscape or portrait.
- The choice of which ordered bases are "positively" oriented and which are "negatively" oriented on a real vector space.
- The designation of a parametrised curve as "positively" or "negatively" oriented (or "nonorientable"); the analogous description of a surface or hypersurface.