The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 4 plus 2 plus 3 plus 6 letter word IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
I
N
T
H
E
H
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A
T
O
F
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M
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T
More clues leading to the result IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "without pausing to think?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case without pausing to think? = in the heat of the moment.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.