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midgers- doesn’t sound right to me.

The thematic answers don’t change just get entered thematically and none are real words as a result

I think we're all saying the same thing! HW7, that is exactly what I have.
Candledave - what I mean is that some of the thematic entries happen to be real words as well: in clue order, the first, fourth and fifth are real words and the third is a prefix. The second and sixth are merely chimaeras. I was initially thrown by this but it's clear that there are no words the setter could have chosen in the SE corner that would have fitted the contraints

I'm all done - more luck than judgement - and getting several entries by the 'only possible fit' method, before reverse-engineering the parsing - or actually not fully getting it in some cases.

I've been following the conversation between HW7 and Midgers with some puzzlement - I can't see what Midgers means by 'a prefix' for one of the thematic entries- and why only two 'chimaeras' - I have 6 'chimaeras' as stipulated in the second sentence of the preamble - 2 do double duty - and they're all 'real' words given the 'Chimaera' convention, and serve the theme precisely. Allowing for this convention, I have no non-words. (I hope this isn't giving too much away, pace Quisling... )

IHaving jumped in triumphantly with a ridiculously obvious solve and entry in the first ten seconds, I was horribly frustrated when nothing would work with it - then the penny dropped about the 5 'needing changes' and all was sortable - although one altered entry isn't actually in Chambers - but 'in thematic locations'? And 'all in the top half because of the theme'? I really can't see why the 5 changed entries - which are asymmetrically distributed in contrast to the rest of the thematic material - have to be where they are, or what they represent.

I'm not expecting any hints or nudges about this so early in the week, but I'd like to know eventually - even though I'm pretty confident I've got a submittable grid.

I'm just observing that, if you look up the combinations of letters as entered in the grid, two of them will not appear in Chambers at all (nor, as Quixote observes, will one of the changed entries) and one of them is a four letter prefix always followed b y a hyphen. There's nothing wrong with this, and the underlying words, pre-treatment, are clearly real. I'm just saying that what confused me at first was that three of these letter combinations ARE real words, so I was expecting them all to be.

As for the thematic locations, these entries do indeed have to be precisely where they are. Some more research on the discussion between the two colleagues will reveal this.

Thanks, Aedites, I found it enjoyable and elegantly done. Nae gripes fae me!

I’m still confused and not sure you’ve got the thematic treatment right, midgers. The original answers should still be in the grid, just in a thematic form

Sometimes I astound myself with my own stupidity! How is it possible to solve a puzzle like that, unpack the theme and still not see what is required? All is now clear, sorry to have distracted everyone. (Just to explain, I was using the initial letter of the part, not its representation)

This week I seem to have found a new way to fail to complete. I have a full grid, found the six thematic answers and the five which needed changing. I also made early sense of the title.

This subject is simply not my bag. I switched away from maths to economics at University. Could somebody tell me why the five words that needs altering are connected to the theme? I presume it is something to do with the clue numbers? Also do the last three omitted letters relate to an award. If not I've gone badly wrong.

A gentle hint where the names could be found would also be appreciated. I've looked at the subject on Wikipedia but nothing leapt out in terms of different opinions.

We've had the grandpup's with us on a sandbank staycation so I'm exhausted and tomorrow is another day. A lot to ask so greetings to all.

Ah!
Now I understand why the 5 changed entries are exactly where they are, although how their 'changedness' and varying lengths correspond to the operational verb that thematically applies to each of their positions, escapes me. Can it be that the 'changedness' is simply and only to distinguish them from all the other entries in non-thematic positions? And that the operational verb isn't symbolised, and only the root values of the positions matter?

Or am I missing something subtle (as usual)?