Critical mood (10)
I believe the answer is:
imperative
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'critical' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)
'mood' is the second definition.
(imperative mood is a kind of mood)
(Other definitions for imperative that I've seen before include "Requiring attention" , "Essential" , "Of vital importance, commanding" , "Extremely important" , "Crucial" .)