Referring Clues

• Sneaking suspicion
• Brainstorm
• Think of it!
• Light bulb, in cartoons
• Bright thought
• Game plan
• Conception
• Essay's basis
• Inventive thought
• Something to think about
• Notion
• It might make you say "Aha!"
• The very notion
• Concept
• Think tank product
• Fancy
• Inspiration
• It may be fixed
• Brainwave
• Inkling
• "I had no ___!"
• Start of something big?
• Designer's need
• Brain wave
• The light bulb, to Edison
• Light bulb, figuratively
• Patent prerequisite
• Free-association tidbit
• Brain popper
• Flash
• Piece of one's mind?
• Noodle concoction
• Think about it
• "Fool ___" (the Westinghouse air brake, to Vanderbilt)
• Glimmering
• Think tank nugget
• Bit of planning
• Flash of inspiration
• Edison product
• Matter for the gray matter
• Plan of action
• Clever thought
• Just a thought
• Possible solution
• Proposal
• Inventor's start
• Light bulb's signification, in cartoons
• Inventor's starting point
• "What's the ___?!"
• Creative spark
• Start of an invention
• It has a germ
• It comes to mind
• Brainchild
• Guess
• Head piece?
• Bean product?
• "The very ___!"
• Mental flash
• Noodle product?
• Thesis basis
• What comes to mind
• Bean concoction?
• Think tank output
• Noodle concoction?
• Trial balloon, e.g.
• Just think of it
• "Good ___!"
• Piece of mind?
• Abstraction
• Genesis of an invention
• Prelude to a solution
• Cranial bulb?
• What a germ may become
• "You have no ___"
• Fantasy
• It pops into the head
• Reason to shout "Eureka!"
• Theory's start
• Bean sprout?
• "No ___" ("Beats me")
• "What's the big ___?"
• Imagine that
• Coconut yield?
• Head light?
• It may be bright
• "Aha!" elicitor
• Brainstorming product
• Gray matter output
• Thought
• What "!" may mean, in comics
• Prelude to an invention
• Cerebral output
• Beginning of a plan
• What "!" may mean in a comic strip
• Mental invention
• It's a thought
• Vague impression
• Creative thought
• Brain trust offering
• Hunch
• "Hey, what's the big ___?"
• Bright light?
• Result of cogitating
• Birth of a notion?
• Opinion
• One may occur to you
• Budding plan
• Inventor's "step one"
• Brain flash
• Cogitation creation
• Basis of an invention
• Invention's germ
• It's all in your head
• Mental glimmering
• "The very ___!" ("What nerve!")
• Noggin nugget
• Creative flash
• Skull session result
• Gray matter product
• Cartoon light bulb
• Light bulb, in comics
• Creative concept
• Brainstorming result
• Creative starting point
• Creative start
• Light bulb, in the comics
• Clue
• It may be half-baked
• Result of some brainstorming
• Invention start
• Writer's block breakthrough
• Birth of a notion
• Inventor's spark
• Form an image of
• Think of it
• Vision
• It might be half-baked
• Starting point, perhaps
• Start of a theory
• Child of invention?
• Start of a plan
• Think piece?
• Plan for action
• Flash in the brainpan?
• Noodle filler?
• Light bulb, in the funnies
• It might be bright
• Invention inspiration
• You might bounce it off someone
• It may come to a head
• What a light bulb symbolizes
• Fresh thought
• "You got a better ___?"
• It can be fixed
• It might come off the top of your head
• It's symbolized by a light bulb
• Gray matter matter?
• "For poetry the ___ is everything": Matthew Arnold
• Something that might come to a head?
• One may be lost in thought
• 1968 Bee Gees album
• Mount ___ (Crete's highest peak)
• Brainstorming session result
• What's on your mind
• Plan
• "I have an ___!"
• It can be half-baked
• It might be harebrained
• Light bulb, in a comic strip
• Flash of sorts
• "The very ___!"
• Mental creation
• Thought hidden in eight long puzzle answers
• Conceit
• It's just a thought
• Brain-picker's pursuit
• It might be crazy
• Light bulb, to a toon
• "What's the big ___?"
• Invention seed
• Patent seed
• Noodle output?
• Thinker's output
• Potential dilemma solver
• It's out of one's mind
• "I've got an ___!"
• "An ___ is salvation by imagination": Frank Lloyd Wright
• Future invention
• Start of a solution
• Start of a novel?
• It might come out of nowhere
• Creative inspiration
• Mental picture
• Gray cells' product
• Noodle nugget
• Plan not yet on paper
• Problem solver, perhaps
• Creative contribution
• Inventor's germ
• It starts with a germ
• Think-tank nugget
• Toon light
• Sudden thought
• Formulated thought
• Patent basis
• "Hey, what's the big ___?"
• Brainstorm result
• Aftermath of a brainstorm
• "The very" thing?
• "Now there's an ___!'
• The origin of an invention
• Invention impetus
• It precedes an invention
• It's out of your mind
• Potential problem-solver
• Cerebral creation
• Inventor's brainchild
• Inventor's first step
• A good one may come to mind
• "The very" item
• Cerebral achievement
• Asset for an entrepreneur
• Productive thought
• "The very ___!" ("What nerve!")
• It can come to a head
• Cortex product
• Cause of an "aha" moment
• Inventor's forte
• "It seemed like a good ___ at the time!"
• Genesis of a plan
• Think tank matter
• It may be bright or novel
• Inventor's need
• Object of thought
• It could be a very good thought
• Asset for an inventor
• Brainstormer's pursuit
• Comic-strip light bulb
• "The very ____!" ("What nerve!")
• Strip light bulb?
• It can be big, bright, good or bad
• Invention beginning
• It may be preconceived
• Content of cognition
• Lightbulb's meaning, sometimes
• Word with "big" or "good"
• Mental inspiration
• Personal view
• Inventor's specialty
• The embryo of an invention
• Start of a brilliant scheme
• Creative notion
• Its icon is a light bulb
• "You have no ___!"
• It may be big
• Step one of an invention
• "It seemed like a good ___ at the time!"
• Flash of brilliance, perhaps
• Genesis of many great inventions
• It's all in your mind
• What may come to mind
• "Ah-ha" predecessor
• Approximation
• It may come to mind
• Fanciful notion
• Comic lightbulb
• Lightbulb source?
• Invention inception
• The start of an invention
• Flash of brilliance
• Light bulb, to Edison and comics
• "The very ___!" (hmmph!)
• Result of a brilliant thought, perhaps
• Brain matter?
• You may bounce it off someone
• Cartoon light bulb indication
• It may pop into your head
• Invention's beginning
• Brainy output
• Entrepreneur's starting point
• New thought
• Headlight?
• Flash in the brainpan
• Intention
• "Whose bright ___ was this?"
• Crossword constructor's germ
• Innovator's inspiration
• Invention starter
• Brainstorming bit
• Mental germ
• Invention genesis
• Suggestion
• Result of cogitating, perhaps
• It's formed in your head
• What a light bulb sometimes signifies
• Sneaking suspicion, e.g.
• Gray matter creation
• Invention's origin
• ---
• Starting point for an invention
• Start of something big, usually
• Inventor's springboard
• Birth of an invention
• Head light bulb?
• Intangible spark
• "If at first, the ___ is not absurd, then there is no hope for it": Einstein
• Something thought up
• Novel notion
• It might be right or bright
• Start of something big
• Something that can't be patented
• Inventor's inkling
• Bit of creativity
• Cause of an "aha" moment
• "The very" item
• "An ___ is salvation by imagination": Frank Lloyd Wright
• "I've got an ___!"
• "I have an ___!"
• It may be kicked around
• Revelation
• Object of a brilliant thought
• Think tank's quest
• Brainstorm found in the long answers
• Hypothesis
• Entrepreneur's need
• Certain germ
• "Drawing is putting a line round an ___": Henri Matisse
• Approach
• Invention
• Fully-grown germ?
• Entrepreneur's start
• Something to think up
• Head start?
• It can be big or harebrained
• Possibly half-baked noodle concoction?
• [Lightbulb!]
• Scheme
• Invention preceder
• On-bulb, symbolically
• Reflection result
• Mental block buster
• "Eureka!" elicitor
• Innovator's breakthrough
• Spark result
• Imagination product
• Result of a brainstorming session
• Adman's start
• It may be bounced off someone
• Theory
• Result of cogitating, sometimes
• Dome light?
• Personal belief
• Mental representation
• Mental impression
• Impression
• Bit of inspiration
• Creative germ
• "That's the ___!" ("Good thinking!")
• 'What's the big ___?'
• Brain gain
• Seed of invention
• Product of the imagination
• Creative suggestion
• Word exclaimed after "no" or "good"
• Creative nugget
• Light bulb for Wile E. Coyote?
• One could eventually lead to a patent
• Unseen flash
• Result of brainstorming, at times
• Light bulb, in a strip
• It comes before a patent
• Sudden mental inspiration
• Birth of a plan, perhaps
• Bright thing from gray matter
• General impression
• Spark, so to speak
• Bright thing that comes to mind
• Brilliant thought
• Inspirational flash
• apotheose
• It can be good, bad or bright
• Brain's creation
• A finger in the air might connote one
• It begins at conception
• Author's inspiration
• The thought that counts?
• Big or bright thing
• It may be big or bright
• Block buster?
• Think-tank output
• A good one is often carried out
• Invention necessity
• Suspicion
• Nearly colorless
• Result of ruminating
• Flash, perhaps
• "No ___" ("Don't ask me")
• Embryonic invention
• Item in a writer's notebook
• Mental concept
• Start of a project
• Project's basis
• It might just come to you
• Point of view
• Group of troops
• Abstract thought
• It might pop into your head
• It may come from nowhere
• Coconut product?
• Black cloud : anger :: light bulb : ___
• Overhead light bulb?
• Brainy creation
• "What's the big ___?!"
• Inventor's brilliant notion
• Bit of brainwork
• Mental spark
• Light in the attic?
• Creative morsel
• Hunch, say
• Mental plan
• A lightbulb can represent it
• Writer's block buster
• Potential solution
• Brain output
• Think-tank product
• Creative output
• Inventor's "lightbulb"
• Inventor's flash
• Light bulb, symbolically
• The very beginning of an invention
• Mind matter
• Mind flash
• Creative input
• Sudden bright thought
• It might be radical
• Lightbulb in toons
• "Aha moment" cause
• Just think of it!
• Innovator's spark
• Matter of the mind
• Kickstarter project's genesis
• It may be just a hunch
• Inventor's basis
• What a light bulb may signify
• Cure for writer's block
• Mental conception
• Overhead exclamation point, in comics
• "What's the big ___ ?"
• "That's the general ___"
• It could just come to mind
• Start of something big, perhaps
• Something that comes to mind
• Good piece of one's mind?
• Sudden inspiration
• It may be seminal
• "Whose ___ was this?"
• Invention's inception
• A thinker may think of one
• Brainstorming contribution
• Inventor's inspiration
• Brilliant flash of inspiration
• Brain matter
• What a comics light bulb symbolizes
• Eureka cause
• Mental concoction
• Light bulb, in comic strips
• It may be a great notion
• Something talked about in a TED talk
• Noodle product
• View
• See 2-Down
• Thinker's goal
• Patent predecessor
• Result of brainstorming
• One may get carried out
• Original thought
• It might begin with a "What if ...?"
• It may be thrown out a meeting
• "Paris is always a good ___" (line from the film "Sabrina")
• Word after big or bright
• It's formed in one's head
• Lightbulb, figuratively
• It's better than a mere thought
• Cerebral spark
• Gray-matter creation
• Brain work
• What a lightbulb symbolizes
• One that's out of one's head?
• Bright brain concoction
• It comes to a head
• Bulb lighter?
• "I've got it!" elicitor
• Start of a literary project
• Problem solver, at times
• Skull-session nugget
• Brainy product
• Lightbulb, in comics
• Skull session nugget
• Creative mental spark
• Spark of inspiration
• What a light bulb may mean
• Rand corp. commodity
• Writer's block ender
• Brain's output
• Flash, maybe
• Thinker's reward
• What you may think of
• Innovator's seed
• Brain production
• Creative process output
• Mind product
• What a comic strip lightbulb indicates
• What all great inventions begin with
• Discussion starting point
• "Bright" thing from one's mind
• Planning session input
• What a light bulb might symbolize
• The mother of invention
• What a germ might initiate
• Germ's future?
• Cranial flash
• Cause for shouting "Eureka!"
• Brilliant, creative thought
• One may stop a mental block
• Creative one's spark
• Germ for an invention
• Breaker of a mental block
• Prefix for clue
• Brainstormer's spark
• What a cartoon light bulb represents
• Germ for a patent
• Cents
• It's just in your head
• It comes from the head
• Unpatentable thing
• It's in your head
• One may accompany a finger snap
• Good thing to have at a meeting
• It can come to mind
• Light bulb, metaphorically
• Now there's a thought!
• Cogitation
• Belief
• Understanding
• Great brainwave
• Sensational thought
• Start of a plan or invention
• It's the result of a brilliant thought
• A light bulb represents it in comics
• Great thought
• Something that comes from your brain
• Excellent thought
• What every great invention begins with
• Mental flash of brilliance
• Product of 9-Down
• Result of a brilliant thought
• It's represented by a lightbulb
• Mental glimmer
• What a light bulb means, in comics
• The cause of a light bulb turning on?
• Inventor's brilliant thought
• What a light bulb represents, in comics
• "he very ___!"("hat nerve!"
• What a lightbulb means, in comics
• Brainstorming output
• What you need first to make an invention
• Inkling almost perfect
• Brilliant thing to come to mind
• Big, bright or silly thing
• What a lightbulb represents, in comics
• It's a great thought
• Flash of mental inspiration
• Light-bulb lighter?
• Incandescent light bulb depiction (because I have yet to see a CFL bulb depict one)
• Matter for gray matter
• What a would-be inventor needs
• Notion (4)
• It may be half-baked in one's brain
• What you first need to invent something
• Mental image
• A thought
• Ford had a better one, in old ads
• Mind find
• Song light bulb
• Song start
• Orson: "Bright ___"
• Song thought
• Song concept
• Big Time Rush "No ___"
• Darkness "Seemed Like a Good ___ at the Time"
• LCD Soundsystem might come up with a "Big" one
• Dave Matthews "The ___ of You"
• Vandals "An ___ for a Movie"
• Musical inspiration
• Producer suggestion
• Musical think tank nugget
• Features "The ___ of Growing Old"
• OK Go "A Good ___ at the Time"
• Musical conception
• Leonard Cohen might come up with an "Old" one
• Bright Mike Gordon song?
• '68 Bee Gees album they thought of?
• Musical mental flash
• Mike Gordon song a light went off for?
• Randy Newman song that came to him?
• "Some punk's ___ of a teenage nation"
• Thought Gide gag no good at all
• What's in your head, if not entirely wide awake
• Initially, is doctor elated at result of brain operation?
• Possible withdrawal from Mideast? That's a thought
• Thought I had to start early
• One thinks it's always liable to occur
• Adviser's first to finish plan
• A thought I had for each
• Perfect but inconclusive thought
• Thought I had an early start
• You can think of one as near perfect
• Thought some should be paid each month
• Thought to provide identification for each
• It may occur at any time
• Perfect short clue
• Product of the mind
• Detailed perfect scheme
• A brainwave?
• TED Talk subject
• Fancy a fish first?
• Creative springboard
• Notion - thought
• Perfect student dropped off, it's thought!
• 'Ave no one perceive one's thought
• A letter less than perfect in conception
• It's thought to be less than perfect
• Fancy one darling, shortly?
• Fancy model endlessly
• Fish has a flash of inspiration
• Clue short of perfect
• Conclusion of endless dream
• An almost perfect concept
• It is thought to be almost perfect
• Lit bulb overhead? One almost gone
• Something that comes to a head
• Bright thing?
• Novel thought
• It may be fixed or bright
• Theme
• Invention's basis
• Invention, initially
• The germ of an ___
• Contemplation creation
• Skull-session product
• Light bulb's symbolic meaning
• Think-tank offering
• What a germ can become
• "I have no ___"
• Genesis of a patent
• One may be called bright when it isn't
• Aim for 1,000 to leave store with 500 entering
• Thought, notion
• Advisor's first to get behind concept
• Plan is almost perfect
• Almost perfect concept
• Clue may be perfect, though short
• Notion one endlessly cherished
• Theory supplied by assistant, first to last
• Don't start to disguise a plan
• Mixed-up confusion of aide's plan
• Notion almost perfect
• Internal impression
• Germ of an invention
• Leaders of industry don't easily accept proposal
• Inventor's thought
• Thinking output
• Overhead light bulb?
• "I've got absolutely no ___" ("I'm clueless")
• Planning session offering
• Head product?
• Orson "Here's my bright ___"
• Noodle concoction?
• "That's a great ___!" ("Let's do it!")
• Product of a picked brain, perhaps
• What a raised index finger may indicate
• "Shark Tank" presentation
• "No ___" ("I'm stumped")
• Seed of innovation
• Brilliant suggestion
• Something leading to an invention
• "I just had a brilliant ___!"
• Patent genesis
• Bean product?
• Basis for a patent
• What a light bulb indicates in cartoons
• Thought for the creative
• Writer's block breaker
• Meaning
• Brilliant think piece
• Origin of an invention
• The thought I had for every one
• Entrepreneur's spark
• "Aha moment" producer
• Thought required in hide-and-seek?
• As a concept, it's less than perfect
• Visionary's spark
• Innovation's origin
• Innovator's necessity
• Brilliant bit of brainwork
• Brain product
• Mental morsel
• Lightbulb, in a cartoon
• Brain formation
• Thought that leads to a creation
• Inventive thought?
• Planning session nugget
• "Any ___?"
• Inventor's theory
• Start of creation?
• Bulb in a balloon?
• Whence a patent
• Thing leading to a patent
• "What's the ___?"
• Skull session offering
• Inspirational thought
• "What if ..." thought
• Start of a patent
• Mental block breakthrough
• Patent preceder, presumably
• "Eureka!" inspirer
• Patent preceder
• Think about this
• The thought that counts?
• Patent's genesis
• Reason to shout "Aha!"
• Good thing to think up
• Thinker's thought
• It can be bounced off someone
• Creative formation
• Planning session product
• Mental seed
• Flash of genius, say
• Crossword inspiration
• First step towards a patent
• Noggin output
• Innovation's basis
• Patent's germ
• Some side arms are of fancy nature
• What every screenwriter needs
• Thought that becomes an invention
• Bit of brain work
• Lightbulb, metaphorically
• Super-productive, creative thought
• It might occur to you
• What a light bulb represents in the comics
• What's produced upstairs?
• Something coming to mind
• I would take some heart from this suggestion
• "Shark Tank" pitch
• It might be put in your head
• Inventor’s spark
• It might come with an “Aha!”
• One may pop into your head
• One may be pitched to a publisher
• Word after "half-baked" or "concrete"
• Inspirational spark
• Tidbit from a think tank
• Inventor’s inspiration
• Vacuity's lack
• "Here's an ___ ..."
• Brainstorming breakthrough
• Brainstorming offering
• Inventor’s inkling
• Product of pondering
• "Light Bulb" over a drawn head
• Thought that leads to an invention
• Innovative thought
• The content of cognition
• Lightbulb, in cartoons
• "What gives you that ___?"
• Brainstorming success
• A light bulb may symbolize one
• "What gave you that ___?"
• Bit of innovation
• Cure for writer's block?
• Brainstorming goal
• Sudden insight
• Innovator's inkling
• Concept or conception
• "Can I bounce an ___ off you?"
• Innovation initiation
• Skull session creation
• Unit of creativity
• One might be ahead of its time
• Mental spark of creativity
• Inventor's thing
• Brainstorm product
• Product of a brainstorm
• Result of musing
• It can lead to a great creation
• Founder's inspiration
• "That Is NOT a Good ___!": Mo Willems children's book
• Head light?
• Light bulb generator?
• A thoughtful intention
• Thought to be perfect, though reduced by a pound
• Word after "vague" or "bright"
• Thing created in the mind
• Half-baked thought, perhaps
• Metaphorical lightbulb
• Bean sprout?
• "Don't get the wrong ___"
• Noodle output?
• Extremely creative thought
• One may dawn on you
• Imaginative thought
• "The right" thing
• Spark of innovation
• All the best inventions start with one
• Think tank tidbit
• Lightbulb, to a toon
• Brilliant mental creation
• "What a brilliant ___!"
• Piece of mind?
• "Where'd you get that ___?"
• Gist
• "Good ___!" ("Nice thinking!")
• Something that might pop into your head
• Vital step in creating something
• Anagram of 17-Across
• Result of a lightbulb moment
• Thing many people say they thought of first
• A lightbulb might signify one
• Result of a successful brainstorm
• "Whose ___ was that?"
• Reason to say "I've got it!"
• It can lead to brilliant things
• Brilliant notion
• What you need before inventing something
• Concept for an invention
• It's the birth of a plan
• "You get the ___"
• "I have no ___ who drew all over the wall!"
• Start of a story
• See 60-Down
• Starting place for an inventor
• Cause for an aha
• Spark of a sort
• One may be half-baked or brilliant
• One may be floated or rough
• It might be bad or bright
• Word implied in "I haven't the foggiest"
• Result of brainstorming, maybe
• Start of great inventions
• "That's not a bad ___!"
• "The faintest" thing
• Nugget from a noggin
• Think piece?
• The wheel was a good one
• Writer's block cure
• A lightbulb represents it in comics
• What a lightbulb emoji can symbolize
• Brain spark
• Theoretical substance for which a chemistry law is named
• Product of brainstorming
• Creative brain thought
• Spark of creativity
• Exclamation point?
• What the lightbulb symbol means
• "Oh, wow, I had no ___!"
• Word with bright or big
• K) All inventions start with a good one
• Half-baked ___
• Money-making mind thought, maybe
• What a lightbulb often signifies in cartoons
• Brilliant brain creation
• "Light" of a light bulb moment
• It's symbolized by a light bulb in comics
• "Bright" notion
• It's symbolized by a lightbulb
• A lightbulb emoji might represent one
• Thing you need before you invent something
• "Novel" concept
• Product of a lightbulb moment
• "Big" or "bright" notion
• "I don't have the faintest ___!"
• "Foggiest" notion
• Brilliantly creative thought
• "That's a great ___!"
• "Half-baked" concept
• Inspired thought
• What a light bulb represents in cartoons
• First step to a new invention
• "Here's a better ___ ..."
• One might be floated or flirted with
• "The ___ of You" (2024 rom-com)
• Creative thought bubble
• "Big" or "rough" concept
• One might start as a seed
• Creative brain output
• "You had the right ___!"
• Hoped-for result of a brainstorming session
• Clever concept
• A good one is bright
• Thought I had to take notes
• Spark
• That's a thought
• Jumping-off point for an inventor
• Creative development
• Clever notion
• Innovator's first step
• Meeting proposal
• Lightbulb moment
• Something to noodle on
• "There is nothing on earth so powerful as an ___ whose time has come" (proverb)