Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For

Original title: The Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For

TV Movie
2019
TV-G
1h 24m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

Lacey Chabert, Barbara Niven, and Brennan Elliott in Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (2019)

Play trailer0:33

1 Video

29 Photos

Cozy Mystery Crime Drama Mystery

A crossword is found on the murdered owner of a burglarized art gallery. Tess, a Sentinel crossword editor, finds clues in crosswords. Eventually, detective Logan accepts her clues and help.... Read allA crossword is found on the murdered owner of a burglarized art gallery. Tess, a Sentinel crossword editor, finds clues in crosswords. Eventually, detective Logan accepts her clues and help. Tess is also running a crossword tournament.A crossword is found on the murdered owner of a burglarized art gallery. Tess, a Sentinel crossword editor, finds clues in crosswords. Eventually, detective Logan accepts her clues and help. Tess is also running a crossword tournament.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
Will Shortz - puzzle editor of The New York Times and NPR's Sunday morning puzzle-master - was among the writers and executive producers of this movie. He also made an uncredited appearance as a table tennis player, coming up to the main characters outdoors and asking to have his ping pong ball returned.

Goofs
The crossword at the beginning written in cursive is different than the one used later on. The first clue answer is bird - that agrees. However, the answers to clues 2 and 3 do not match.

Connections
Followed by Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder (2019)

User reviews28

Review

Featured review

6/10

charming Chabert

A gallery owner is killed during an art heist. Police detective Logan O'Connor (Brennan Elliott) finds a strangely half-filled crossword puzzle at the crime scene. He goes to the New York Sentinel to talk to a reporter and raises the interest of crossword puzzle editor Tess Harper (Lacey Chabert). She uncovers unusual clues in the puzzle. Logan is dismissive and she decides to investigate on her own.

Chabert is adorably cute and charismatic. That goes a long way in these types of TV movies. It's not surprising that Hallmark is doing a whole series of these with her. Elliott is functional although it would be great to have someone with a lot more screen presence. The basic premise is a little overly complicated. I get that these types of movies need a hook and it's getting harder to find an original premise. It's workable enough to get this franchise off the ground. Chabert is so sweetly charming that she is able to propel this initially but the sequels will determine whether this is a success or not.