This crossword No. 21698 clues and answers were published on Thu 23 Sep 1999 and the puzzle can be visited by following The Guardian Cryptic Crossword No. 21698 link.
All Across Clues and Answers:
1-across – ie Scottish Supt. held him and I, else…? : THELEITHPOLICE
8-across – Crossing embraces a Chinese river : XIANG
9-across – One should evacuate WC, given standard deposits of igneous rock : FELDSPAR
11-across – 8’s firm backing non-drinker supports drive : OCTETTE
12-across – Italian inventor of Romanic extraction : MARCONI
13-across – Red-hot flower’s sound for a caterpillar : LARVA
15-across – Disputes either way accep-ted by member that’s spine-less and transparent : ARROWWORM
17-across – Man scaled rocks on February 2 : CANDLEMAS
20-across – Group at the watering-hole : OASIS
21-across – Large volume of traffic? : OMNIBUS
23-across – Learned English getting vulgar about it : ERUDITE
25-across – Gasping leader choked by cigarettes, dropping place : DUNGHILL
26-across – Beastly sound in 7 8 : NEIGH
27-across – The inevitable result of something, if set for a change : SIGNOFTHETIMES
All Down Clues and Answers:
1-down – If victory’s British, I’m Batman! : TAXCOLLECTOR
2-down – Demand to be precise : EXACT
3-down – Rowers’ function in pool? : EIGHTBALL
4-down – Lustrous material given by Welsh flower to Greek character : TAFFETA
5-down – College’s main French compound : POLYMER
6-down – It’s said John’s a failure : LOSER
7-down – To be passionate with a ton and a half on top is asking a lot! : CLAMOROUS
10-down – See 1 across : DISMISSETHUS
14-down – Artist offered sister peculiar fruitless yellow flowers : RANANCULI
16-down – A mystery joker, about half honest, concealing horse : WHODUNNIT
18-down – Dogsbody trailing mum : MASTIFF
19-down – Supposedly invisible bomber, though the last crashed : STEALTH
22-down – Initiate former Israeli PM : BEGIN
24-down – Dictator given order shows a particular expression : IDIOM
This crossword has in total 28 where 14 are across and 14 are down.