Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

This will only make sense to someone with the crossword and who has completed it, so apologies to other readers.

I’ve completed the clued grid and the central entry. I have 9 words around the perimeter, including “a”, and my first full words are “is not” and my last “of”. The remaining pattern to fill is ?L?E?DE?O?GEO? To make the final 3 words. If I have it right, the letters remaining from the “Conserves Own Vault” checksum are SSCUOT.

What is the sequence to enter these into the blanks?

I looked at it and decided "too difficult for me!" and abandoned it. I'll go back and have another look.

I'm not entirely sure of my solution, because it looks like the last 3 words straddle the final letter of the person in the central unclued column.
However, I haven't got the source material, so I can't check the quote - and there might be a French pun involved (if so, it will be beyond my language skills).
I have a slightly different set of letters too (I make these - COSVUT) and the final 3 words I have breaks down like this -
?L?? DE ?O?GEO? (this ignores the E central to the bottom line - the 4th letter in your chain). It's something to do with Burgundy wines.

I'm happy to provide the name in full, if you'd prefer.

Thank you Drxx. That works.

I should have realised that the bars on the bottom line are there for a reason. And I had the letter count wrong - yours is right. Self-inflicted wounds - the usual story when one gets stuck...

Struggling through this and most of the way there but a few clues leave me really stumped. Can someone help me with:

16D - Police officers, pair of them contributing to bust! (6)
I have BE?S??

3D - Nothing but legumes for starters in a "mixed" salad (7)

I have ?A?OUL? but the fourth letter might be an A and I am guessing that the initial letter is T.

No idea on the book or author. Some ideas on the quote (..a glass or two of....

16D BEASTS? I am not familiar with the term as used but it seems to be US slang?

Hi nemo, I'm not doing this puzzle so can't help with anything thematic.
16d. Definition is in Chambers, is the wordplay bea(st)s is found in bu(st)
3d. Tabouli, salad (o (nothing) + but + l(egumes) + i' (in) + a)*

ginge

VMT

Your Chambers entry confirms "Beasts" to my satisfaction (though I believe that our American cousins mainly use it in the singular as in "The Beast"). Not listed in my 1983 Chambers as such.

Tabouli I have never met (and I don't feel that I would wish to). It does not appear in my 1983 Chambers, but that was before we started eating all this foreign muck. The answer, though, is accurate and clearly parsed, for which I thank you!

the letters given as unchecked in the preamble contain 2 ns but I can only find one in the final version - can anyone clarify?

Sorry I can answer that myself now - it's in the central column!