The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word OWED
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
O
W
E
D
More clues leading to the result OWED
- Love to form a bond that's outstanding
- Felt the need to give recital of poet’s work
- Outstanding ring joined with another
- We feel that news boss is outstanding!
- Outstanding poet’s encouragement to unite
- Outstanding poetry recital
- Outstanding poetic entreaty to marry
- Outstanding poem that’s recited
- Entertained by endless poetry, us solvers were indebted
- Outstanding women featuring in dictionary
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Felt the need" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case felt the need = owed.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 OWED mean?
OWED verb- To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
- To have debt; to be in debt.
- That owes.