Hasn't much to say to The French Connection's three leading characters in charge (7)
I believe the answer is:
laconic
'hasn't much' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'to the french connection's three leading characters in charge' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'in charge' could be 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge') and 'ic' is located in the answer.
'the french' could be 'la' ('the' in French) and 'la' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'con' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to say' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for laconic that I've seen before include "In short" , "Curt in conical way" , "with little expression" , "Terse; pithy" , "like a man of few words" .)