The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 1 plus 5 plus 3 letter word AT A LOOSE END
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
T
A
L
O
O
S
E
E
N
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "idle" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case idle = at a loose end.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.