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drxx / muraria - apologies if I've misunderstood... I think the letters for the name are in order, producing a title off 'a' work (in which this character appears) - but the 'thematic' work, a different one, is then hinted at by the title, and this one fits the description given by extra letters - and has an arguably 'similar' inspirational work.

Thanks, cranberryboat - I wondered about that 'or...' but couldn't see it as the winner of... (I'll have to read through it all again!). Very devious!

You might be on to something cb as there are two characters from the 'lesser' work in the grid but I don't see any other links?

I'm with Drxx and Muraria, in that the line should go through the letters in name order. The mention of "manipulating the grid" suggests we have to invert it to get the correct depiction, though if this has any thematic significance it escapes me. I suppose the initial depiction is pre-thematic treatment, but the preamble says it should be the work itself. There is a similar work with the title as portrayed, but the character has nothing to do with it and it doesn't fit the description from the extra letters.

It took me ages to make a name from the clashes, and I wasted a lot of time getting search results for nonentities on social media. It would have helped if the right letter choices led to real words down and across. I far preferred this week's Listener.

Two further characters appear in the grid, I wonder if this was a 'nudge' or if it was originally intended to include full set?

Having read Cranberryboat's earlier post, and noted the two names in the grid which hadn't registered, I can see that "a" work many not be the same as the "thematic" work - which explains the inverted depiction. If that's right, well done CB. I shall reserve judgment as to whether this is a clever bit of misdirection or the kind of low-down trick that requires us to find hares in preambles (ref. Listener 4422).

Ah I had the 'wrong' character. The list of clashes can be resolved in two ways - one for each of the works (although in two cases, using the same letter) - depending which end you start the line at. Nice!

I'm putting it aside and waiting for the results of the steward's inquiry (still worrying about the big award - and the general theme is completely off my radar).

So they can, CB. If the i were still offering a prize, it should go to you!

...and thanks, muraria - I think we might have had the same idea initially.