In How to \label-\ref an un-numbered section, Nathan Grigg pointed out that one could use the \hyperref commmand to create a link to a starred section as follows
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\begin{document}
\section*{Preface to the article}
\label{s:intro}
\hyperref[s:intro]{Introduction}
\end{document}
My question now is how to create a link to a numbered subsection of that starred section?

\phantomsection? – Feb 23 '19 at 05:34\labeland\ref(or\autoref)? The "number" that gets used in such a cross-reference will look slightly odd, but that's because subsection numbers look odd too. – Mico Feb 23 '19 at 05:52