The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 14 letter word NUTS-AND-BOLTS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
N
U
T
S
-
A
N
D
-
B
O
L
T
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Basic facts" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case basic facts = nuts-and-bolts.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.