Puzzle a (#??)

ACTOR A played a CHARACTER in an answer in Puzzle #2. His last name (SYNONYM A) is a synonym of SYNONYM B. ACTOR B sang a SONG from Puzzle #17 and played CHARACTER, whose last name is a homophone of SYNONYM B and whose first and last names have the same word value. An ACTRESS from Puzzle #15 starred in a TV SHOW that is a homophone of ACTOR B’s last name. ACTOR A’s last name ends the fourth word of IDIOM. The last two words of IDIOM have a collective word value equal to that of the TARGET WORD (a single answer term that applies every time “TARGET WORD” is cited across the puzzle series (hereafter referred to as “TARGET WORD”)). SCHOOL RESEARCH CENTER A’s first word is the last word of IDIOM. Three-word SCHOOL RESEARCH CENTER B, owned by the same school, has the same word value as the TARGET WORD. The UNKNOWN CATEGORY is enumerated ????????????. (UNKNOWN CATEGORY) A begins with the end of SCHOOL RESEARCH CENTER B, ends with the second half of the first word of IDIOM, and has a word value equal to that of the TARGET WORD. RADIO/TV BROADCASTER A is hailed by NICKNAME A, the last word of which is the second word of SCHOOL RESEARCH CENTER B. ACTOR A cameoed in (UNKNOWN CATEGORY) B, which ends in the fourth word of NICKNAME A and contains the reverse of the third word of SCHOOL RESEARCH CENTER B. RADIO/TV BROADCASTER B also appeared in (UNKNOWN CATEGORY) B; his last name begins with the fourth word of an UNKNOWN CATEGORY from the puzzle four positions prior to this one in the properly-ordered puzzle series. NICKNAME B is the first two words of both NICKNAME A and NICKNAME C. One of the words of NICKNAME C is the AIRLINE. Change the first letter of RADIO/TV BROADCASTER A to turn it into DEFINITION, which defines DIRECTION A. SONG was sung by NICKNAME B, begins with DIRECTION A, and ends with the beginning of MOVIE A’s first word. ANTONYM A is the last name of RADIO/TV BROADCASTER A and its antonym, ANTONYM B, begins the last word of NICKNAME C. The last name of ACTRESS A begins the UNKNOWN CATEGORY and begins with DIRECTION B. SPOUSE is the husband of ACTRESS A and his last name rearranges to ANIMAL. MOVIE A is one way you might jokingly address the people sporting NICKNAMES A-C; it stars ACTRESS A, its second word begins with one of the words in the same other-puzzle UNKNOWN CATEGORY referenced earlier, and its second word ends in a last name found elsewhere in this puzzle series. The (PHRASE) to (NICKNAME B) is a TITLE from an earlier puzzle in the properly-ordered puzzle series. The five-word EDIBLE is directly associated with NICKNAME B; the first two words are related to the FOOD BRANDS featured in this puzzle, the third word is found consecutively within the eight-letter last word, and the fourth word would be found sequentially across an answer from Puzzle #14 after Caesar-shifting -1 the first letter of his first name. With the fourth letter of its second word changed, the PHRASE would span consecutively a word seen in a category in each of the last two puzzles of the properly-ordered puzzle series. PHRASE rearranges to alliterative FOOD BRAND A and a MUSICAL elsewhere in this puzzle series. FOOD BRAND B begins an answer from Puzzle #17. RADIO/TV BROADCASTER C’s last name is a homophone of, and his first name is a shortened version of, the first and last names of an answer to an UNKNOWN CATEGORY in a puzzle later in the properly-ordered puzzle series. ACTRESS B starred in, and RADIO/TV BROADCASTER C appeared in, MOVIE B. ACTRESS B’s last name (ANTONYM C) is an antonym of the homophone of RADIO/TV BROADCASTER C’s last name (ANTONYM D). RADIO/TV BROADCASTERS B & C hosted shows of the same genre. The DIRECTOR directed MOVIE B; the word values of his first name + initial letter of his last name sum to the word value of the TARGET WORD. Change the last letter of DIRECTOR’s last name to make the eight-letter SYNONYM C. SYNONYM D, the synonym of SYNONYM C, has a word value equal to that of the TARGET WORD. Remove the second letter of SYNONYM D and it would begin with an anagram of a four-letter SYNONYM from an earlier puzzle in the properly-ordered puzzle series. DIRECTOR made an appearance in MOVIE C. Subtract one from MOVIE C to make the first word of the NOVEL, the basis for one of the MUSICALS featured in this puzzle series. SCREENWRITERS A & B wrote MOVIE C. Change the first letter of SCREENWRITER A (also MOVIE C’s director)’s last name to another letter and it would rearrange to the last name of SCREENWRITER B. The singulars of ANTONYM C and ANTONYM D each have a word value equal to that of the TARGET WORD. NUMBER A is the one you would directly associate with the second-earliest of a set of five answers to a category in a puzzle eight positions after this one in the properly-ordered puzzle series. NUMBER B is the lowest number you can create by changing the first letter of the first word of an answer in this puzzle and then rearranging it.