>you can only recover your password by entering the 12 word recovery passphrase, otherwise it is not possible.

I think this can be stated more optimistically.  If you have the correct 12 word recovery passphrase, then you can recover your coins with 100% certainty.  If you don't have the 12 word recovery passphrase, but you have some good guesses as to what the password is, then it is still very possible to recover your account -- but you will need to brute force your password.  (This basically means trying and re-trying your password many times until you strike the right combination).

>2) what about private key
If you have your Wallet ID then you can retrieve  a copy of your encrypted private key.  (You will probably need access to the email address associated with your account too, as your ip address has probably changed and Blockchain will likely not release the encrypted private key until you click a link in the "Do you recognize this ip address" email).

However, you will still need your password to decrypt your private key and access your funds.

This article walks you through a step-by-step process to research likely passwords and then test them until you find the right one: https://cryptoassetrecovery.com/blog/recover-lost-blockchain-password/

Thanks,
Chris