Help me solve this puzzle before my head explodes

[ApocalypseNowt]

Just a hint of where to start would be nice!

I've solved all the clues I think but have no idea how to put them in the grid. A couple of the clues have more than 10 letters too so haven't got a scooby what to do with them.

For info the black squares are actually coloured so I think I'm meant to use them.

Help meeeeee.....

Is the answer the 'E' that's left over?

Did you say you have other puzzles too? Maybe you will have one letter left over from each puzzle

What was the percussion? Does the list go from honeypot to larynx, cos if so I can't get from chopstick to dodgem, which is where I guess the percussion goes.

percussion instrument was 'xylophone' which nicely links larynx to honey pot!

Aaaaah!

Thanks - have you done all the other puzzles?

I've done 2, hopefully this will be the 3rd sorted and I'm most of the way through the next one which leaves 4 more to go

I'll be sure to post if/when I get stuck!

Next 2 puzzles giving me a headache if anyone's a) bored and b) cleverer than me

Oops here's the 2nd one

Anyone...

Figured out what I'm doing with this one

Stuck on cock and tarn!

Tarnish? Apparently Ishtar is a goddess.

Ignore me. It's "tars" and not "tar".

Prog - ram - part
Kind - red - wood
Book - end - ears
Tarn - ish - tars
Gran - ite - mise

Will come back if I get any more!

PEAS-ANT - HEM

Cockshy Shylock!

Think tarn is 'ish' then if I read the middle letters of the connecting bits I get "An end has a start" which is the title of an Editor's album! Yay! And thank you 🙏🏻

The other one I am stumped on

Cock - shy - lock?

Oh oops, should have refreshed before posting! Got no idea on the other puzzle, sorry!

I'm putting it on the back burner. It'll probably come to me at 4 in the morning...

I'm so intrigued - why do you have 8 random puzzles from work?

Satisfy my nosiness and I can tell you the answers to the remaining one you've posted... (As a hint: you don't have the correct answer listed for three of the clues)

It's a Christmas charity quiz thing. There aren't just 8 puzzles either. This is just stage 3. I managed stages 1& 2. There are 5 in total!

It's a top gun theme - the answers are all nicknames of characters

Argh! Thank you so much! You're a star