Solutions to THC # 8905

Across

1 Take for granted that letters, overdue, include the first from university (9) POSTULATE

5 Catchment area finds bachelors at home (5) BASIN

8 Resolve to find detectives hiding in river (6) DECIDE

9 Croon about equal right in fighting (8) SPARRING

11 A keen-eyed creature's reported connections (4) LINK

12 I order a cut to be executed (7,3) CARRIED OUT

14 Specimen, not small but generous in proportions (5) AMPLE

15 Oriental cult straying in Maryland was cheated (7) MULCTED

16 Snare for a small flier, could be Venus's (7) FLYTRAP

17 Nobody admits origin of crime in the present time (5) NONCE

19 Can ICC yell about a letter from the Pope? (10) ENCYCLICAL

20 Fabric of wool that could be examined by touch (4) FELT

22 Unruffled workers find fluids for radiators (8) COOLANTS

23 New development in the centre (6) RECENT

24 Famous German poet of a type housed in the environs of Ramsgate (5) RILKE

25 Not given to dreaming, such a one is said to truly persist (9) REALISTIC

Down

1 Walk barefoot in water with two daughters in dim surroundings (6) PADDLE

2 Place of learning, but certainly not lower in importance than others (9,6) SECONDARY SCHOOL

3 Language spoken in a dour duologue (4) URDU

4 Inexpert male turns out to be tentative (12) EXPERIMENTAL

5 Old Aussie cricketer on policy that is ambiguous (10) BORDERLINE

6 Creature that may leave a wake in the sands? (4,2,3,6) SHIP OF THE DESERT

7 A bit of raga playing in distress is neutralised (7) NEGATED

10 Computer accessory badly trips learner (5,7) LASER PRINTER

13 Go up in value per capita somehow around end of sale (10) APPRECIATE

16 Does he charge outrageously for sheep shearing? (7) FLEECER

18 Unchanging interference in radio reception (6) STATIC

21 In Goa it may go to one's head (4)