This crossword No. 22715 clues and answers were published on Tue 31 Dec 2002 and the puzzle can be visited by following The Guardian Cryptic Crossword No. 22715 link.
All Across Clues and Answers:
1-across – Bigwig with big backing from primate : GIBBON
5-across – The fisherman’s whim : MAGGOT
8-across – The country round follows alternative 1s : ORLANDO
9-across – Winter sports association for 51 bucks, maybe : SKICLUB
11-across – Ignis fatuus for back-packers? : TRAVELLINGLIGHT
12-across – Address to Manx cat by 8 across 1s, maybe : OPUS
13-across – A barrier against Tyneside must be unbreakable : ADAMANTINE
17-across – Before there’s an upheaval, get a better job : PREFERMENT
18-across – Precious little 12 for others : OPAL
20-across – Change from cad with clot and from 19 1s’ 12 : COLDCOMFORTFARM
23-across – Young creature for hire, always to be taken in : LEVERET
24-across – Nobel prizewinner could be lost in a tabloid : SULSTON
25-across – Waged war determinedly to show 1 : EDWARD
26-across – Literary hero’s drunk : SHANDY
All Down Clues and Answers:
2-down – All turn – that’s demanded out of spite : ILLNATURE
3-down – I won’t allow you to flag : BANNER
4-down – Pasta with Benedictine in the realm of folly : NOODLEDOM
5-down – Two generations could be free : MASON
6-down – 1s putting a smile on a fish : GRINLING
7-down – POW camp with prisoners’ regulator? : OFLAG
8-down – Heal portico that’s collapsed: is this correctly pronounced? : ORTHOEPICAL
10-down – Drink in Germany – please get the right answer : BITTERLEMON
14-down – Beasts and bird in battle : MONGOOSES
15-down – Heath makes himself known about scheme that wasn’t there at first : IMPLANTED
16-down – Two churches on song: a worm will follow : CERCARIA
19-down – A girl to confess being inside it : STELLA
21-down – Grey cover containing 6 : LIVID
22-down – Matched and dispatched? : MATED
This crossword has in total 28 where 14 are across and 14 are down.