ACROSS
1 Swim poorly, swallowing tons — idiot! (8)
DIPSTICK – DIP SICK [swim | poorly] “swallowing” T
5 Just impediment, see (6)
BARELY – BAR ELY [impediment | see]
8 Relating to certain communications, push to abandon America amid rigged election (10)
TELEPHONIC – P{us}H “amid” (ELECTION*)
9 Chuck and Mike gate-crashing party in NI (4)
DUMP – M “gatecrashing” the D.U.P.
10 Audacity of the courts installing Democrat in district (4,2,3,5)
NECK OF THE WOODS – NECK OF THE WOOS [audacity | of | the | courts] “installing” D
11 Coppers heading off to arrest John in Vatican City, say (7)
ENCLAVE – {p}ENCE “arresting” LAV
13 Unexpected debt I’m beginning to experience when retirement’s due (7)
BEDTIME – (DEBT I’M*) + E{xperience}
15 Get back into Soul Train (7)
CORTEGE – reversed GET “into” CORE [soul]
18 Mostly offensive, he may be a member of the diplomatic corps (7)
ATTACHÉ – ATTAC{k} + HE
21 What toddler does — briefly fidgeting when fast asleep (4,2,3,5)
DEAD TO THE WORLD – (WHAT TODDLER DOE{s}*)
22 Heard animal whimper (4)
MEWL – homophone of MULE
23 Celestial body — object realigned, unseen — nothing odd in that (10)
BETELGEUSE – {o}B{j}E{c}T {r}E{a}L{i}G{n}E{d}U{n}S{e}E{n}
24 Two ways to overcome resistance fast (6)
STARVE – ST(reet) + AVE(nue) “overcoming” R
25 Making a comeback, group is live with online content (8)
WEBSITES – SET IS BE W [group | is | live | with], the whole reversed
DOWN
1 A mutual easing of tensions inside ten terraced houses (7)
DETENTE – “housed” by {insi}DE TEN TE{rraced}
2 Dash around island and cut up cruiser, maybe (6,3)
POLICE CAR – RACE C I LOP [dash | around | island | cut], the whole reversed
3 Sports chiefs tucking into endless snacks and some sort of pudding (7)
TAPIOCA – I.O.C. [International Olympic Committee] “tucked into” TAPA{s}
4 Laugh when officer turns up, interrupting task (7)
CHORTLE – reversed LT “interrupting” CHORE
5 First couple of builders chisel around power unit in plant (9)
BUCKWHEAT – BU{ilders} + CHEAT “around” KW [kilowatt]
6 Old belligerent Republican: last of the Washington crop (7)
REDCOAT – R {th}E D.C. OAT
7 Politicians invested in large universities with millions in one-off payment (4,3)
LUMP SUM – MPS “invested in” L U U M [large | university | university | millions]
12 Food item‘s in middle of oven, within reach (9)
VEGETABLE – {o}VE{n} + GETABLE. What kind of monster doesn’t spell it GETTABLE
14 Popular revolution protects rights over time: that’s moral (9)
INCORRUPT – IN COUP “protects” R R, + T
16 End of rum — crew ultimately upset (7)
ODDMENT – ODD MEN [rum | crew] + {upse}T. If oddments are “ends” then how come people say “odds and ends”, and not just “odds”, answer me that
17 At sea, Walter Raleigh’s first vessel (7)
TRAWLER – (WALTER R{aleigh}*)
18 Sportsman‘s father not taking sides, accepting foul shot (7)
ATHLETE – {f}ATHE{r}, “accepting” LET [bad tennis shot]
19 Old-fashioned fuel was not good for cooking (4,3)
TOWN GAS – (WAS NOT G*)
20 Shunned by all after taking Friday off — this is ongoing (7)
ENDLESS – {fri}ENDLESS
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