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That's good to know, buddy. I think my obvious 5-letter word must be correct as it's pretty thematic. But that flies in the face of the hint given a few posts earlier that the thematic thing contains all 15 letters. Perhaps that might become clearer as the days wear on. I've spent too long looking at 10-letter things, but will persevere. And not a fountain pen + notebook or a new Brewer's to be had either!

To clarify, the 64-cell thematic shape contains all the letters of the 10,5 - but since the 10,5 reuses letters, the 64-cell shape contains fewer than 15 distinct letters - obviously many are repeated many times. Your obvious "5" is no doubt correct, so maybe highlight occurrences of the letters of the 5 in the grid, and something might begin to take "shape" (wordplay!)

I’ve solved a chunk of across and down clues. These blank ones are new to me. Is one supposed to just start putting words into the grid and hope it’s correct? A trial and error thing?

It would really help to know whether the clues are in order? Is the answer to the first bullet point going to be in the first row? Any help or pointers to get me going on entering some of my answers into the grid would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Yes, they're in normal clue order and we've been given clue lengths, which is a great help (you'll see that the second two clues lead to 5 and 7 letter answers, so there's a good chance they fill the 2nd row - the penultimate row will match it, but with the bar pattern shifted 7, 5).
You can predict the bars in a similar way every time you manage to enter an answer.

...sorry, we've been given answer lengths (not 'clue lengths').

H1982

Ye, the clues are in order, so 1A takes up 8 of the 12 cells in the top row. Getting one or two of the first few down clues will hep you place it more precisely.

Re the 10, 5 symbol, I struck lucky as I recalled reading last year about the particular religious group in question in EP Thompson's 'Making of the English Working Class'. They are usually described in 13-letter adjectival form, so the 10 then -ian at the end. Otherwise, I would have struggled for sure.

Thanks drxx and muraria.

My grid is full. I have the five extra words extracted (6,5,5,3,8). I hope it’s correct. It’s not leading me to anything glaringly obvious but the second word (5-letter adjective) is a synonym for a certain shape that I imagine is the second word of the symbol. I have been staring at different types of these symbols and trying to find obscure ones that are 10 letters long but with no luck. I even managed to find a copy of The Making of the English Working Class to have a scan through that but no luck. I have found an interesting character (initials JS) who may be linked to all of this?

Is the central area, containing all 15 letters, a simple 8x8 square in the middle of the grid? Or is it a more thematic, angry shape? Any tips or nudges about how to get the five shapes I need to add would be hugely appreciated! Thanks, H

h1982 - the mistake that held me up for ages was assuming that an 8x8 square was relevant - it isn't. The shape is the second word. No amount of googling for that word will give you the 10-letter word, but I hit on it by looking at the letters in the second word and highlighting them, as was suggested in an earlier posting. The remaining letters in the area then got me over the line pretty quickly. Good luck?

H1982,
It's nothing to do with SJ - I went down that rabbit hole, also. Eventually I followed Granama's use of Qat, and put in the letters closest to the symbol in the grid. The symbol is not one I'm familiar with.

h1982

The central area doesnt contain 15 letters - although the thematic symbol is 15 letters, there are some repeated letters.

The shape isnt a simple square, yoi are right in it being "angry".

I found the central shape first - given its 64 cells and has 90 degree symmetry i dont think there are that many options. This then told me what letters were used in the thematic symbol - which helped narrow things down (you are correct with second word). it is obscure, but fits the wordplay from the 5 words (which you seem to have correct) - i had to google to confirm the result from wp was indeed a symbol. As has been mentioned earlier it is often in it 13 letter adjectival form.

You will only know what 5 shapes to add once you have the symbol.

Hope this helps