Fill in the blank with the most appropriate idiom: His sudden resignation caught everyone _______.
off guard
The blank needs an idiom that describes how people reacted to a sudden, unexpected resignation.
The signal word is 'sudden', which tells us the event surprised everyone and left them unprepared.
The idiom 'to catch someone off guard' means to surprise a person when they are not ready or not paying attention. This matches the suddenness precisely.
'Red-handed' is used for someone caught in the very act of doing something wrong, which does not apply to people merely reacting to news.
'In limbo' means in an uncertain, unresolved state of waiting, and 'on thin ice' means in a risky or precarious position; neither captures being taken by surprise.
Only 'off guard' aligns with the reaction of shock produced by an abrupt announcement.
The key idea is matching the idiom to the emotion of surprise implied by 'sudden'.
Thus the appropriate idiom is off guard.
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