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

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