Mental slip-up

Latest answer — November 17, 2025

21 Across

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NYT Crossword

This clue's Monday, November 17, 2025 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Vegas attraction, with "the"
  2. 6Bitter-smelling
  3. 11Cell signal unit
  4. 14Pleasant smell
  5. 15Heavyweight African animal, informally
  6. 16Application
  7. 17Circle, cone, cube, cylinder, heart, pentagon, star, triangle
  8. 19So-so, in modern slang
  9. 20Scrapes (out), as a living
  10. 21Mental slip-up
  11. 22Univ. degrees for executives
  12. 23Many a prom tuxedo
  13. 25Train track part
  14. 27Airheads, Dots, Fun Dip, Heath, Kit Kat, Life Savers, M&M;'s, Milk Duds, Nerds, Oh Henry!, Peeps, Pez, Rolo, Skittles, Twix, Twizzlers
  15. 33Growth in a fish tank
  16. 36Steaming mad
  17. 37Girlfriend or boyfriend, informally
  18. 38Gruesome
  19. 39Cooks just the outsides of
  20. 40Nuisance
  21. 41A narcissist has a big one
  22. 42Giving the go-ahead
  23. 43Keto and Paleo, for two
  24. 44Boot, good, loom, moon, pool, rook, woof
  25. 47In one's birthday suit
  26. 48Skeptic's remark
  27. 52Home of a "500" race, familiarly
  28. 54Great ___ National Park (Nevada attraction)
  29. 58Shoe's bottom
  30. 59Play-___
  31. 60Andrew, Ketanji Brown, Mahalia, Reggie, Stonewall
  32. 62Musical Yoko
  33. 63With everything on the line
  34. 64Like a pyramid or sphere
  35. 65Femur and fibula site
  36. 66Not sharp, as a pencil
  37. 67Vulgar

Down

  1. 1Less risky
  2. 2Tot's three-wheeler
  3. 3Comic actor Seth
  4. 4"If you want me to be honest ..."
  5. 5Golfing standard
  6. 6Region
  7. 7Intel product
  8. 8Makes unfair, in a way
  9. 9Receives from a will
  10. 10Nickname for Dorothy
  11. 11Insect that stings
  12. 12Home to Hanoi and Hong Kong
  13. 13Cincinnati team
  14. 18___ Woods, "Legally Blonde" protagonist
  15. 22Sch. with a T station
  16. 24Amazement
  17. 26Lumberjack's tool
  18. 28Letters before "And on that farm ..."
  19. 29The "T" of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+
  20. 30Platoon V.I.P.
  21. 31Sunrise direction
  22. 32Ping-Pong dividers
  23. 33Like most cheeses with rinds
  24. 34Nike's swoosh, e.g.
  25. 35Punxsutawney Phil, for one
  26. 39Classic arcade game with bull's-eye rings
  27. 40Strongly desires
  28. 42Like a centenarian
  29. 43"For suresies"
  30. 45Purchase
  31. 46Bottle served at a trattoria
  32. 49Exclamation while pulling a rabbit from a hat
  33. 50The King of Rock and Roll
  34. 51Marsh plants
  35. 52Object of adoration
  36. 53Zero
  37. 55Rights advocacy org. since 1920
  38. 56Dermatologist's focus
  39. 57"It ___ that simple ..."
  40. 60Quick punch
  41. 61Foreign policy grp.

The answer to “Mental slip-up” in the New York Times crossword is LAPSE — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on November 17, 2025, a Monday puzzle, at 21-Across. Below you'll find why that fill fits, every other answer we've recorded for this clue, and links into the puzzle it came from.

“Mental slip-up” answer

LAPSE (5 letters)

Reveal the solution one letter at a time with the tiles above if you'd rather nudge yourself toward it than see the whole word at once. Just want it outright? The answer is LAPSE.

Why the answer is LAPSE

LAPSE is the 5-letter solution that fits "Mental slip-up" in the NYT Crossword crossword on November 17, 2025 (21-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does LAPSE mean?

Reading the plain dictionary sense of LAPSE is often the fastest way to see why it answers this clue.

(noun)

  • a brief or temporary failure of concentration, memory, or judgement
  • an interval or passage of time

When else has “Mental slip-up” appeared?

New York Times reuses clues across dates, sometimes with a different answer depending on the grid. Here's where this exact clue has shown up, and what the answer was each time — handy when you're checking whether today's fill is the only one.

November 17, 2025 (most recent) → LAPSE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Mental slip-up”?

The answer is LAPSE, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on November 17, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “Mental slip-up”?

5 letters: LAPSE.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on November 17, 2025 (a Monday puzzle), at 21-Across.

Can “Mental slip-up” have a different answer?

Yes — New York Times sometimes reuses a clue with a different solution to fit the grid. The answers we've recorded for each date it appeared are listed above when available.

Where can I find the rest of this day's NYT Crossword answers?

The full grid for November 17, 2025 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

New York Times Crossword is published by The New York Times; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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