The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word HOMER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
O
M
E
R
More clues leading to the result HOMER
- Poet’s residence by river
- Poet's birthplace close to harbour
- Pigeon in river
- Author O Henry turned up minutes before the Queen
- Iliad’s author is in capital of Rhodes
- Greek poet’s house overlooking sea at Boulogne
- Poet in residence reading or writing?
- Epic poet, big hit in America
- Animated 13‘s all-round achievement as striker
- Pigeon, horse and rook to confine old Neo
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "flier returning to base" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case flier returning to base = homer.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.
What does HOMER mean?
HOMER noun- Various former units of volume, particularly:
- A former Hebrew unit of dry volume, about equal to 230 L or 6 1/2 US bushels.
- A four-base hit; a home run
- A homing pigeon
- A person who is extremely devoted to his favorite team.
- To hit a homer; to hit a home run.