Old flame makes sweetheart cross at hotel used by American group (9)

'old flame' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'sweetheart cross at hotel used by american group' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'sweetheart' could be 'e' (the middle letter or heart of 'sweet') and 'e' is located in the answer.
'cross' could be 'x' (an X is a cross) and 'x' is found in the answer.
'hotel' could be 'h' (phonetic alphabet) and 'h' is present in the answer.
'american' could be 'us' (United States) and 'us' is found in the answer.
'group' could be 'band' (band can mean a group of people) and 'band' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'makes' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?