Crossword Genius

Drinks for the audience is a mistake (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lapse

'mistake' is the definition.
(I know that lapse is a type of mistake)

'drinks for the audience' is the wordplay.
'drinks' becomes 'laps' (lapping is a kind of drinking).
'for the audience' shows a homophone (sound like) (how an audience might hear it).
'laps' is a homophone of 'LAPSE'.

'is a' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for lapse that I've seen before include "Careless mistake" , "Pales into omission" , "Brief (memory) failure" , "Fall from grace" , "Error; oversight" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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