Storybook beginning

The answer

ONCE

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

Used 9 times across 6 distinct years; most recently in 2015; first recorded in 2002. It appears in 3 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other clues for ONCE

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

• Formerly - used 402 times, most recently in 2026
• A single time - used 296 times, most recently in 2026
• In the past - used 192 times, most recently in 2026
• "__ upon a time..." - used 138 times, most recently in 2026
• As soon as - used 137 times, most recently in 2026
• Back in the day - used 77 times, most recently in 2026
• Way back when - used 68 times, most recently in 2025
• Fairy tale starter - used 66 times, most recently in 2026
• Fairy tale opener - used 59 times, most recently in 2026
• Long ago - used 56 times, most recently in 2025
• Fairy tale beginning - used 54 times, most recently in 2026
• ___ in a blue moon - used 53 times, most recently in 2026
• Fairy tale start - used 49 times, most recently in 2026
• First word of "The Raven" - used 44 times, most recently in 2026
• Story starter - used 42 times, most recently in 2021
• Never again? - used 40 times, most recently in 2025
• Previously - used 39 times, most recently in 2026
• Some time ago - used 39 times, most recently in 2026
• Without repetition - used 38 times, most recently in 2026
• ___ and for all - used 35 times, most recently in 2026
• Whenever. - used 34 times, most recently in 2018
• Years ago - used 33 times, most recently in 2025
• In the old days - used 32 times, most recently in 2021
• "__ in Love with Amy" - used 29 times, most recently in 2022
• Quondam. - used 27 times, most recently in 1993
• Almost never - used 26 times, most recently in 2025
• All at __; suddenly - used 24 times, most recently in 2023
• Erstwhile - used 24 times, most recently in 2015
• Just a single time - used 24 times, most recently in 2026
• Not repeatedly - used 24 times, most recently in 2026
• "___ bitten..." - used 22 times, most recently in 2018
• Grimm beginning - used 22 times, most recently in 2020
• ___ in a lifetime - used 22 times, most recently in 2026
• "___ bitten, twice shy" - used 21 times, most recently in 2022
• "Measure twice, cut ___" - used 21 times, most recently in 2026
• In times past - used 20 times, most recently in 2026
• On a single occasion - used 20 times, most recently in 2026
• Enough, for some - used 19 times, most recently in 2020
• Head of a tale - used 18 times, most recently in 2012
• Second word of many limericks - used 18 times, most recently in 2025
• Former - used 17 times, most recently in 2014
• Tale starter - used 17 times, most recently in 2008
• ___ over lightly - used 15 times, most recently in 1994
• At all - used 14 times, most recently in 1992
• First word of many fairy tales - used 14 times, most recently in 2026
• In years past - used 14 times, most recently in 2026
• Not again - used 14 times, most recently in 2026
• Single time - used 14 times, most recently in 2022
• "___ Upon a Time in Hollywood" - used 14 times, most recently in 2025
• A while back - used 13 times, most recently in 2021
• It may be enough - used 13 times, most recently in 2017
• Never to be repeated - used 13 times, most recently in 2026
• A while ago - used 12 times, most recently in 2026
• If ever. - used 12 times, most recently in 2007
• Start of a fairy tale - used 12 times, most recently in 2026
• Back then - used 11 times, most recently in 2024
• First word of a fairy tale - used 11 times, most recently in 2024
• "Fool me ___, shame on you ..." - used 11 times, most recently in 2026
• "Going ___, going ..." - used 11 times, most recently in 2015
• ___ in a while - used 11 times, most recently in 2026
• In days gone by - used 11 times, most recently in 2023
• "The Raven" opener - used 11 times, most recently in 2022
• Fairy tale opening - used 10 times, most recently in 2026
• First word in a fairy tale - used 10 times, most recently in 2025
• Part of YOLO - used 10 times, most recently in 2026
• Story start - used 10 times, most recently in 2010
• Twice halved - used 10 times, most recently in 2013
• "You only live ___" - used 10 times, most recently in 2025
• 2012 Tony winner for Best Musical - used 9 times, most recently in 2019
• A long time ago - used 9 times, most recently in 2020
• At some earlier time - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• At some point in the past - used 9 times, most recently in 2025
• At some prior time - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• Ever - used 9 times, most recently in 1997
• Fairy-tale word - used 9 times, most recently in 2016
• Fairy tale's first word - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• "Fool me ___ ..." - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• Just that single time - used 9 times, most recently in 2025
• "Just this ___!" - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• Not to be repeated - used 9 times, most recently in 2026
• Some years back - used 9 times, most recently in 2008
• Story opener - used 9 times, most recently in 2016
• This may be enough - used 9 times, most recently in 2014
• Years back - used 9 times, most recently in 2022
• At an earlier time - used 8 times, most recently in 2024
• At any time. - used 8 times, most recently in 1995
• Start of many fairy tales - used 8 times, most recently in 2022
• Tale start - used 8 times, most recently in 2002
• "The Raven" opening - used 8 times, most recently in 2024
• At __; immediately - used 7 times, most recently in 2021
• "If I've told you ___ . . ." - used 7 times, most recently in 2026
• In olden days - used 7 times, most recently in 2026
• Never before and never again - used 7 times, most recently in 2023
• Not repeated - used 7 times, most recently in 2025
• Singly - used 7 times, most recently in 2019
• Start of a reminiscence - used 7 times, most recently in 2026
• "The ___ and Future King" - used 7 times, most recently in 2025
• "___ Upon a Mattress" - used 7 times, most recently in 2007
• "___ upon a midnight dreary ..." - used 7 times, most recently in 2025
• At the moment when - used 6 times, most recently in 2022
• "Falling Slowly" musical - used 6 times, most recently in 2026
• First word in many fairy tales - used 6 times, most recently in 2025
• It might be enough - used 6 times, most recently in 2012
• Just this time - used 6 times, most recently in 2008
• Less than twice - used 6 times, most recently in 2024
• ___-over (quick look) - used 6 times, most recently in 2016
• Sometime in the past - used 6 times, most recently in 2025
• "The Raven" start - used 6 times, most recently in 2017
• "There was this time when..." - used 6 times, most recently in 2026
• This time only - used 6 times, most recently in 2024
• Twice removed from thrice - used 6 times, most recently in 2013
• Uniquely - used 6 times, most recently in 2013
• Word in many limericks - used 6 times, most recently in 2006

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.

• From the beginning - ANEW, used 114 times
• Beginning on - ASOF, used 100 times
• Storybook monster - OGRE, used 77 times
• Beginning - ASOF, used 47 times
• Dynamic beginning - AERO, used 34 times
• Logical beginning? - IDEO, used 27 times

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