"The very ___!"

The answer

IDEA

4 letters. See every clue for this answer on the IDEA answer page.

Used 49 times across 31 distinct years; most recently in 2026; first recorded in 1955. It appears in 13 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other answers for this clue

The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.

• SAME (2 uses in xd)

Other clues for IDEA

Every other clue in this collection answered by IDEA, most used first.

• Notion - used 778 times, most recently in 2026
• Concept - used 422 times, most recently in 2026
• Brainstorm - used 311 times, most recently in 2026
• Thought - used 225 times, most recently in 2026
• Inkling - used 160 times, most recently in 2026
• Brainchild - used 157 times, most recently in 2026
• Creative thought - used 155 times, most recently in 2026
• Creative spark - used 109 times, most recently in 2026
• "What's the big ___?" - used 93 times, most recently in 2026
• Conception - used 61 times, most recently in 2024
• Inspiration - used 61 times, most recently in 2026
• Mental flash - used 51 times, most recently in 2026

Related clues

Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.

• Up to the task - ABLE, used 397 times
• In the thick of - AMID, used 377 times
• On the briny - ASEA, used 364 times
• From the top - ANEW, used 355 times
• Spill the beans - BLAB, used 313 times
• Away from the wind - ALEE, used 282 times

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