10
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My previous puzzle about movie titles was pretty well-received, so I've done another one. :)

This time it's on the theme of movie heroines.

Movie heroines - cryptic crossword

The clues are in pairs, your task is to solve all of them and to match them up into their pairs.

Most (but not all) of the pairs are FIRSTNAME in one clue then LASTNAME in the other clue.


ACROSS
5. Don’t do a lot (9)
6. Brightt redd (8)
8. Mild-mannered photographer’s girlfriend stoned (4,4)
10. Bearded FOSS-advocate (3)
11. Kissed lifesaver looks drowned (5)
14. Inventor of bouncy explosive makes an excellent partition (7)
17. Top Gear’s hamster (7)
18. Dancing under song (9)
20. Overdo harassment a bit (1,4)
21. Elementary sidekick (6)
28. An unknown person, no saint, with a thousand dollars (7)
29. One who cheats, dissembles, or defrauds (6)
30. Tertiary explosive (8)
32. Grow pale (7)
34. Superhero poses questions to Socrates, to the east of Guernsey (8)
36. Mike’s operatic solo (5)
39. Medieval Roman 1004 can’t be found (3)
40. Having little waves (6)
42. Having head-lice, only one tonne (4)
43. Oriental carbohydrate for an adder (7)
44. Largely eponymous, moony heroine is lost at sea while still a maiden (7)
45. Change ran pop tv (3,5)

DOWN
1. Two Russian girls under training (8)
2. Changes are audible (10)
3. Permit Victor both input and output (6)
4. Will Smith’s agent before twos and threes (5)
6. Sudden and surprising lack of beverage (8)
7. One who marls, I hear (5)
9. Irish John (6)
12. Lima, November (5)
13. How does the chatbot make you feel? (5)
15. Leading a newt named Albert (4)
16. Don’t come heavily (9)
17. In the middle of a shallow phallocentric challenge (4)
19. Swinger without whisky (6)
22. South-African sun god (5)
23. Aqua entomb (9)
24. An angle, a cycle, a dent, or a pod (3)
25. Modern style of music with heavy bassline is circular (6)
26. Simpson (née Bouvier) (5)
27. Full of holl (5)
31. Gan again (5)
33. Comes only once a year (9)
35. Victor Victor (4)
36. Neil in a burger (7)
37. Notice or observe (5)
38. Steal from ‘er then thank ‘er (7)
41. Possess bromine (5)

Have fun!

In the spirit of teamwork, partial answers are very welcome.

If you're looking for a few easy ones to get you started, I suggest 8, 21, 26, 33, and 40.

Update2: As progress has stalled on the last couple of clues, I'm adding a couple of hints:

  • One of the movie heroines is not a person.

  • One of the movie heroines has a single name, which I've split in two at an arbitrary point.

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7
  • $\begingroup$ Clarification : Are we looking for movie characters or movie actresses? $\endgroup$ Mar 21, 2015 at 19:46
  • $\begingroup$ Are the pairs always an ACROSS with a DOWN or the other way around, or could it also be two DOWNs or two ACROSSs? $\endgroup$ Mar 21, 2015 at 19:49
  • $\begingroup$ @crazyiman movie characters (with one exception that it wouldn't really be fair to describe as a 'character', but she's definitely not an actress). Names spelled as per imdb. $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 21, 2015 at 19:57
  • $\begingroup$ @ChristianRau they can be any combination at all. $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 21, 2015 at 19:57
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ crazyiman is doing an outstanding job here, but any contributions from other people are also encouraged. ;) $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 22, 2015 at 19:33

2 Answers 2

4
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2.

Baudelaire (Anagram of "are audible")

3.

Violet (V + I/O + let)

4.

Jones (Agent J + "ones")

5.

Doolittle (Don't do a lot, do a little)

6A.

Scarlett (Bright red with a double t)

6D.

Starling (Startling minus T)

7.

Marla (One who marls)

8.

Mary Jane? (Peter Parker would be the mild mannered photographer)

9.

Jackie (Couple of Irish John Jackies out there. Wishful thinking?)

10.

RMS (Richard Stallman)

11.

Annie (CPR Annie)

12.

Ellen (LN)

13.

Eliza (Emacs' psychiatric chatbot)

14.

Wallace (Barnes Wallis + "ace")

16.

Golightly (come×go, heavily×lightly)

17A.

Hammond (Richard Hammond)

17D.

Hall (shallow phallocentric challenge)

18.

Gunderson (Anagram of "under song")

19.

Singer (Swinger minus W)

20.

O Hara (Overdo Harassment)

21.

Watson (Elementary, my dear Watson)

22.

Sarah (SA Ra)

23.

Waterbury (aqua=water, entomb=bury)

24.

Tri (tricycle, trident, tripod)

25.

Dubois (Dubstep + circular + is)

26.

Marge (Simpson was born Bouvier)

27.

Holly (Holl-y)

28.

Granger

29.

Connor (Conner)

30.

Arrietty (anagram of "tertiary")

31.

Regan (Re-gan)

32.

Blanche (make white/pale)

33.

Christmas ("I thought Christmas comes only once a year")

34.

Hermione (Herm (island east of Guernsey) + Ion)

35.

Evey (V for victor?)

36A.

Maria (M + Aria)

36D.

Macneil (Neil + Mac)

37.

Clock (One of the obscure meanings)

38.

Roberta (Rob 'er & ta)

39.

Mia (Missing in action?)

40.

Ripley (Ripple-y)

41.

Brown (Own Br)

42.

Nity (nit-y)

43.

Clarice (Carry Lookahead Adder + Rice)

44.

Titanic (titanic=large, at sea -> ship, maiden -> sank on first voyage)

45.

Von Trapp (Anagram of "ran pop tv")

Matches

(6A-20) = Scarlett O'Hara, (26-18) = Marge Gunderson, (8-21) = Mary Jane Watson, (7-19) = Marla Singer, (12-40) = Ellen Ripley, (22-29) = Sarah Connor, (31-36D) = Regan Macneil, (27-16) = Holly Golightly, (36A-45) = Maria Von Trapp, (32-25) = Blanche Dubois, (35-17A) = Evey Hammond, (3-2) = Violet Baudelaire, (34-28) = Hermione Granger, (33-4) = Christmas Jones, (43-6D) = Clarice Starling, (13-5) = Eliza Doolittle, (30-37) = Arrietty Clock, (38-23) = Roberta Waterbury, (39-14) = Mia Wallace, (9,41) = Jackie Brown, (24,42) = Trinity, (10,44) = RMS Titanic, (11,17D) = Annie Hall

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Yay! :) They're dropping like flies... $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 21, 2015 at 19:58
  • $\begingroup$ Nice work! I'd be interested in your comments on difficulty and on what kinds of clues are most fun to solve. $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 29, 2015 at 15:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Since I am neither a crossword person nor a movie person, it was very hard for me. I was going for top 100 female characters lists all the time $\endgroup$ Mar 29, 2015 at 15:54
1
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  1. Two Russian girls under training (8)

KARENINA (Russian, Karen + Nina, under a train).

  1. Leading a newt named Albert (4)

ANNA (the initial letters of "a newt named Albert")

  1. Having head-lice, only one tonne (4)

NOTE? ("tonne" with only one N, anagrammised; I'm not sure how the head-lice fit in)

Match:

(15,1) = Anna Karenina.

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4
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Nice work! Glad to see the field opening up. :) $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 22, 2015 at 23:14
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @AE Thanks! Another one added now. Wasn't there a similar clue for Anna Karenina in your novels crossword? $\endgroup$ Mar 22, 2015 at 23:33
  • $\begingroup$ yeah, I was so proud of it I used it again. ;) $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 23, 2015 at 9:20
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @AE I should add that I did work it out from scratch, and only later remembered that you'd done it before ;-) $\endgroup$ Mar 23, 2015 at 9:28

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