A second explanation occurred to her, one she liked no better than the first.

It was a stupid thought, but no other explanation occurred to her.

I was alone for all that winter there, and many explanations occurred to me.

Why had that explanation not occurred to him at once?

"Several explanations occurred to me but none of them made much sense."

As I say, this explanation only occurred to me recently.

She tried to imagine what it could be, but no explanation occurred to her.

She was really shocked; this explanation hadn't occurred to her.

"From the guy at the bar," said the kid, as the explanation of where I got the gun occurred to him.

The explanation had already occurred to me, but I did not wish to even think about it.