Weekend Quick Cryptic 157 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's my turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help with the clues click the label below.

Hints and tips...

Here are a few hints and tips.

• All but 11 and 21 of the Across clue answers are thematic.
• There are plenty of clues requiring some sort of reversal.
• 3A is a double definition.
• The ? in 16A indicates a definition by example.
• In 24A the service is not a religious one.
• The famous poem in 25A is by Rudyard Kipling.
• For 2D you need to separate "behind start of steeplechase".
• The diver in 6D is a bird.
• The driver in 20D is on a golf course.

And click on this label to get the solution.

Solution and explanation of the answers...

Definitions   underlined in bold italics , ( Abc )* indicating anagram of Abc,{deletions} and [] other indicators.

Across
1 Airline's Eastern headquarters (4)
BASE – BA’S (British Airways’; Airline’s) + E (Eastern).
3 Place of employment (8)
POSITION – Double definition.
9 Did moan about red card (7)
DIAMOND – (did moan)* [about].
10 Nick eats cooked head of lettuce (5)
STEAL – (eats)* [cooked] + first letter of, [head of], Lettuce.
11 Reportedly walked with stick (5)
PASTE – Sounds like [reportedly] PACED (walked).
12 Horse smuggler (6)
RUNNER – Double definition.
14 Small three-wheeled vehicle is a hit (6)
STRIKE – S (small) + TRIKE (three-wheeled vehicle).
16 The French fever for a football competition? (6)
LEAGUE – LE (The in French) + AGUE (fever). The ? indicates a definition by example.
19 Club cricketer (6)
BATTER – Double definition.
21 Nothing potentially harmful about this sort of oil (5)
OLIVE – O (nothing) + EVIL (potentially harmful) [about] -> LIVE.
24 Priest at first delayed part of service (5)
PLATE – Priest [at first] + LATE (delayed). A dinner service, not a religious one!
25 Famous poem about senior cricketer (7)
FIELDER – IF (famous poem) [about] -> FI + ELDER (senior).
26 Supplies food outside church for players (8)
CATCHERS – CATERS (supplies food) outside CH (church).
27 Left after return of Labour Party (4)
BALL – L (left) after [return of] LAB (Labour) -> BAL.
 
Down
1 American pal a nuisance in European city (8)
BUDAPEST – BUD (American pal) + A + PEST (nuisance).
2 Places for spectators behind start of steeplechase (5)
SEATS – SEAT (behind) + first letter of [start of] Steeplechase.
4 Arranges flower-beds without begonias at first (6)
ORDERS - {b}ORDERS (flower-beds) without the first letter of Begonias.
5 Playwright turns up in Verne's biography (5)
IBSEN – Reverse hidden in VerNE’S BIography.
6 I caught diver's upturned frozen body in the water (7)
ICEBERG – I + C (caught) + GREBE (diving bird) [upturned] -> EBERG.
7 Initially nobody understood Leibniz's logic was invalid (4)
NULL – Initial letters of Nobody Understood Leibniz’s Logic.
8 It's acceptable to return kiss for small amount of money in Russia (6)
KOPECK – OK (It’s acceptable) [to return] -> KO + PECK (kiss).
13 Exploding red flare leads to postponement (8)
DEFERRAL – [Exploding] (red flare)*.
15 Study liable to change again (7)
READAPT – READ (study) + APT (liable to).
17 Penelope risks hiding one who's running away (6)
ELOPER – Hidden in PenELOPE Risks.
18 Choose parking by river - free for a change (6)
PREFER – P (parking) + R (river) + (free)* [for a change].
20 Support for driver with extremely tough projections on wheels (5)
TEETH – TEE (support for driver on a golf course) + outside letters [extremely] of TougH.
22 Home help brought up in part of Asia (5)
INDIA – IN (home) + AID (help) [brought up] -> DIA.
23 Very long European film (4)
EPIC – E  (European) + PIC (film).