GC SF Sp WH BV YL BT CP SA CB CC Back to puzzle

Creative Pictures Studios

Obscure Movie House

by Martin Reinfried
Answer: đź‘ 

How to Solve

The solver has to figure out where in the review text the cryptic clues begin and end, including sometimes spanning from one review to the next, and must figure out where in the grid the solutions fit. Following are the cryptic clues and solutions:

  • Exterminate A thousand lousy = KILL (K + ILL)
  • secret agents capturing rebel leader from church towers = SPIRES (SPIES around R)
  • wanting to snitch badly? = MISSING (Double Definition)
  • The leader escapes from bunker with reputation = RAP (TRAP - T)
  • permits chief to move east in bloodless = ALLOWS (SALLOW, S moving east to the end)
  • insurrection. Head operative with car from Saturn = ION (I + ON)
  • (Mr. West) accepts a hit = RAM (MR backwards around A)
  • fee used to sever = RENT (Double Definition)
  • heads of escaped agitators threatening stability. Grub = EATS (beginning letters: E + A + T + S)
  • Hub In Chicago, provoked union leader on the inside gave information about = CLUED (C + LED around U)
  • Slovenia smuggling kitchen appliance = OVEN (slOVENia)
  • The Sun reported Whitewater investigator = STARR (homophone of STAR)
  • murmur: Ike’s liquid treats = COOKIES (COO + anagram of IKES)
  • milk from second class shelter, finally caused = BLEED (B + LEE + D)
  • open sores. Strange clue’s right inside = ULCERS (anagram of CLUES with R inside)
  • stove is missing first and fourth digit = TOE (sTOvE)
  • (metal container’s original number) = URN (UR + N)
  • An Elite Grade Tennis player Ivanovic = ANA (AN + A)
  • blunder broadcast to the audience = ERR (homophone of AIR)
  • Small drop after the start becomes ball hit high and deep = LOB (bLOB)
  • laggard’s incomplete return. McKellen and Holm = IANS (SNAI[L] reversed)
  • (doubles partner, sometimes) win individual = NETMAN (NET + MAN)
  • combination of sets for university, working = UNION (UNI + ON)
  • racquet head in untouched service winner. As a measure of range = ACRE (R in ACE)
  • I. German and Ivanovic, hitting slice = ICH (ivanovIC Hitting)
  • win in splendor. Trump Nightfall = SUNDOWN (W in SUN + DON)
  • (documentary) Writer Gliner, deity of misfits = BOB (Double Definition)
  • belittled the consistent voting block of the party in bulletin = ABASED (BASE in AD)
  • obsessed about republican plan = DRAFT (DAFT around R)
  • gospel, with racist leader skewering retreating economic indicator = WORD (R in backwards DOW)
  • Clinton: The Damage = BILL (Double Definition)
  • Pat Gees, eccentric retired wrestler = PETE GAS (anagram of PAT GEES)
  • outs left and yearns for things that used to be popular = OLDIES (O + L + DIES)
  • He infiltrated heart of abortions association with two-piece lock used to secure cars = THE CLUB (HE inside T + CLUB)
  • broadcast tape of animal rights group = PETA (anagram of TAPE)
  • spread crux of story with last two characters in pedophile ring = OLEO (O + LE + O)
  • (chiefly Hillary). After Florida’s sudden = FLASH (H after FLAS)
  • small lead turns steep = SOG (S + GO reversed)
  • Miami-Dade outskirts’ liberal and centrist votes fade away = MELT (ME + L + T)
  • turning Pat nasty = BAD (DAB reversed)
  • starting to gloat. Stench of Fraternities = GREEK (G = REEK)
  • Composer Gustav and actor Bruce combine rising hotshot with raw beginner in the French = MAHLERS (HAM reversed + R in LES)
  • labor union for performers (DIP) = SAG (Double Definition)
  • developing structure = BUILDING (Double Definition)
  • with piercing look backwards. Farm girls = EWES (W inside SEE reversed)
  • Scarlett and Amber Front enrolled in wayward Rho Alpha = OHARA (A inside RHO anagram + A)
  • Greek character from male university = MU (M + U)
  • again intoned notes by University of North Georgia = RESUNG (RES + UNG)
  • a liberal interest is justification = ALIBI (A + LIB + I)
  • to take advantage of hook up. The Savior, Informally = JESU (USE + J reversed)
  • Religious purification rituals—bravo! Fitting message, in modern times, about secondary character in Bible = BAPTISMS (B + APT + SMS around I)
  • the leader of the Israelites. Jews of Sephardic heritage initially returned gold = JOSHUA (initials J,O,S, and H + AU reversed)
  • Moses is by himself below mountain top = MALONE (M + ALONE)
  • sound from nests high in a tree is God! = ARES (homophone of AERIES)
  • “At last, chosen people, take gold to eastern city at the junction of a river and a bay.” = NORFOLK (N + FOLK around OR)
  • Romeo Ace at a Distance Sari fabric = RAYON (R + A + YON)
  • satin, dancing Sully = STAIN (anagram of SATIN)
  • Pitt, and undergarment with diamonds = BRAD (BRA + D)
  • Overweight Ace breaks foot = FAT (A inside FT)
  • expressing emotional intensity, and consequently, ignoring the odds, fully hides returning illness = SOULFUL (SO + fUlLy around FLU reversed)
  • Shivering fit grips Romeo in debate = ARGUE (AGUE around R)
  • about a large physical = REAL (RE + A + L)
  • movement of ballet dancers. Power Story = PLIE (P + LIE)
  • Conservative father and number cruncher = CPA (C + PA)
  • left bank to discover = LEARN (L + EARN)
  • basketball player from Midwest. Summary: retrospective = PACER (RECAP reversed)
  • motion picture spanning Magic, ineffable = CINE (magiC, INEffable)
  • three in Illinois, and sick = ILL (ILLinois)
  • improvisation. Spot on! Freedom Gained (short) = ADLIB (AD + LIB)
  • Film starring Tom Hanks and popular = BIG (Double Definition)
  • Kat Pery playing critical role = KEY PART (Anagram of KAT PERY)
  • of female suicide. Three central characters: Ally, with authority from the government = OFFICIALLY (OF + F + suICIde + ALLY)
  • frames (like in a cartoon) and reportedly hands over, for money = CELS (homophone of SELLS)
  • singer James Hazel = BROWN (Double Definition)
  • McEntire, confederate warrior, and a = REBA (REB + A)
  • bitter, cold, and empty informant = SOURCE (SOUR + C + E)
  • Ephron (neither partner gets high mark) = NORA (NOR + A)
  • monitor technology from solid core storage medium = LCD (soLid + CD)
  • Wow! A Couple of Mysteries = MY (MYsteries)
  • Discoverer of polonium and radium has final element replaced by a court of justice = CURIA (CURIE with E replaced by A)
  • Why? In old man, party drug creates wild animal that hunts alone = COYOTE (Y inside COOT + E)
  • shall fight. Weird! With portable lamp = FLASHLIGHT (anagram of SHALL FIGHT)
  • genus of loach with short fur found in meadow = LEFUA (FU inside LEA)
  • oddly, the head is mounted like a golf ball. = TEED (ThE hEaD)
  • Disgusting! Five out of Five = FIE (FIVE minus V)
  • Berry Excellent First of creations by machine learning = ACAI (A + C = AI)
  • Bid for attention leads to puns—stupid, shockingly terrible = PSST (initial letters: P + S + S + T)
  • drawn out, bad puns = SPUN (anagram of PUNS)
  • For example, “Spruce, the final <hesitation> front rear.” Moving in the wrong direction = TREE (E + ER + T reversed)
  • “Egg shape is Eggs-eptional.” Finally = OVAL (OVA + L)
  • “Nutty nutters endow = ENTRUST (anagram of NUTTERS)
  • party with a bar.” Shower with Attention (alternate version) = DOAT (DO + A + T)
  • Terrible kissing without heart is one way to go downhill fast = SKIING (anagram of KISSING missing center S)
  • French singer and actress, knockout, going after very = SOKO (SO + KO)
  • vocal sexual partner with garland of flowers = LEI (homophone of LAY)
  • lascivious gaze. Looking back, what holds movie together = REEL (LEER reversed)
  • are penetrating hype and a manicurist who trims fingernails = PARER (ARE inside PR)
  • (actor McDermott) in part of randy landscaper. = DYLAN (ranDY LANdscaper)

    The final grid looks like this:

    [filled-in crossword grid]

    Once that has been done, the three special word border squares each have four words around them that, together with the words taken from the grid, help solve to a word for each of the clues at the top of the puzzle:

     🎬 9A 66A
     🎥 22D
     ♫ 21A 59D
    

    The words around the first square are MY BIG FAT GREEK, and the words taken from the grid are MISSING WORD.

    The words from second square are KILL BILL JOSHUA TREE and the word from the grid is BUILDING.

    The words around the last square are BOB DYLAN UNION SUNDOWN, and the words taken from the grid are FLASHLIGHT SOURCE.

    The first solves to WEDDING, the missing word in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

    The second solves to CHURCH, the building in the movie Kill Bill with the Joshua tree in front of it.

    The third solves to TAIWAN, where the flashlight is from in the Bob Dylan song Union Sundown.

    Searching for WEDDING CHURCH TAIWAN gives you images of a large glass church in Taiwan in the shape of a high-heeled shoe. Therefore, the solution is the high-heeled shoe emoji, đź‘ .

    Background and Credits

    I have always loved variety cryptic crosswords, especially when the clues are hidden inside legible text such as movie reviews (Cox & Rathvon created a couple of these and served as my inspiration), and the Creative Pictures Studios land gave me the perfect reason to create one of these. I randomly came across the church in Taiwan in the shape of a huge glass high-heeled shoe, so I grabbed that answer and endeavored to clue a message that would bring that up in a google search.

    My original concept used the history feature of Google street view to find a former restaurant named Church that existed at the intersection of two streets, and I wrote the entire puzzle, which was quite constrained, not realizing that I had a typo in the street names. I might have given up when the mistake was pointed out to me, because it required a huge rewrite, but thanks to Asher Walkover’s glowing review of the puzzle itself despite the botched extraction, I persisted. I was happy to find the white church in Kill Bill, which allowed me to keep the same grid I had before, but this is still the kind of puzzle where such a change required altering a significant portion of the grid entries and then rewriting almost the entire suite of movie reviews.