Slip and panic, having wasted time (5)
I believe the answer is:
error
'wasted time' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'slip and panic' is the wordplay.
'slip' becomes 'err' (synonyms).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'panic' becomes 'or' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'err'+'or'='ERROR'
'having' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for error that I've seen before include "Faulty judgment" , "heresy" , "Mistake, lapse" , "Slip, mistake" , "Faulty judgement" .)