Complete
00:00:00
7 9 16 17 20 22 1 12 13 2 18 3 10 23 8 11 21 4 14 19 5 15 6
  1. 1a Pontificate (6)
  2. 4a Evade (5)
  3. 7a Mellifluous (6)
  4. 8a Group within a group (6)
  5. 9a School payment(s), for example (4)
  6. 10a Vague talk and empty promises (8)
  7. 12a Subversive element working for the opposition (6,5)
  8. 17a Curry dish — Avon lido (anag) (8)
  9. 19a Weep copiously (4)
  10. 20a Deodorant applicator (4-2)
  11. 21a Heavily populated island in the Gulf of Naples (6)
  12. 22a Communal fund (5)
  13. 23a Dangerous (6)
  14. 1d Wise (7)
  15. 2d Prominent cubist (7)
  16. 3d Feline cry (9)
  17. 4d Uncertainty (5)
  18. 5d Areas like the Sahara (7)
  19. 6d Lure (6)
  20. 11d Like Emperor Haile Selassie? (9)
  21. 13d Curl of hair (7)
  22. 14d 1938 novel, starting: 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again' (7)
  23. 15d Well read (7)
  24. 16d Czech composer, d. 1904 (6)
  25. 18d Kind of aunt? (5)