grimwerk: Once you (or someone else) figures out what's going on, you'll be confident in that knowledge. That is, there will be an "a-ha!" rather than a "looks like maybe this could be it, I think."
Or so I hope.
Redeemed! It was FlatOut.
Thank you, grimwerk! It was a tricky one.
Also, thanks Mono1991, some of your guesses inspired me.
Here are my final answers:
Bo Derek.....................................Ten
make someone feel left out....Alienate
self-referential............................Meta
strange and unfamiliar.............Foreign
defining cyclops feature............Eye
never sets on the British ___...Empire
Roman 500.................................D
lice (singular)..............................Louse
Huxtable card game..................Pinochle
stronghold...................................Fortress
John Lennon's is empty............Garden
24 hrs...........................................Day
Ancient Egyptian vessel............Barque
tinyE keeps one..........................Inn
sustained futbol cry....................Goal
counterfeiting..............................Forgery
---
12 Angry Men..............................Jury
climb aboard...............................Embark
cremation location.....................Pyre
dark green wall-climber ...........Ivy
defeated.......................................Beaten
Elvis rocked it..............................Jailhouse
figure of speech..........................Metaphor
finger joint ...................................Knuckle
give me your answer, do ..........Daisy
he took an arrow to the knee ...Guard
inherent .......................................Innate
long lock ......................................Tress
rabbi's magical mud man ........Golem
rot ..................................................Decay
television cop science ..............Forensics
Xenomorph .................................Alien
---
Then just match up the clues and get rid of similar sounds:
B = Beaten - Ten
8 = Alienate - Alien
4 = Metaphor - Meta
6 = Forensics - Foreign
V = Ivy - Eye
M = Empire - Pyre
K = Decay - D
J = Jailhouse - Louse (yup... J + Louse = Jailhouse)
P = Pinochle - Knuckle
4 = Fortress - Tress
N = Garden - Guard
Z = Daisy - Day
M = Embark - Barque
8 = Innate - Inn
M = Golem - Goal
4 = Forgery - Jury
(proper order is determined by the first list)