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I think that I have just cracked this, but am not 100% convinced. Do the numbers 3,48,91 seem appropriate? I do not think I can contemplate looking for an alternative solution.

I have solved all the clues, filled the grid and found the surnames and their work, but totally stumped as to how to achieve the required treatment of the grid. I have read about the prize-winning work, most of which went straight over my head and from that, I think I should be looking for ways of cutting out parts of each column. I can see various ways of cutting 5 or 6 letters from each column to leave real words/names, but I cannot see any consistency or pattern to it. Also in the right hand column, the last letter seems to me to be wrong or redundant.

You need to cut out a whole section....then piece together what's left.....

0pt0 - do you have the instruction from the extra letters?

The instruction combined with the first and last columns led me to the solution.

Thanks for your inputs Kirky and Smellyharry. I do have the instruction spelled out by the cut letters, but that has not (yet) helped. When I try to implement the instruction, I end up with non-words in columns 1, 5, 8, 10 and 13. Clearly I am not carrying out the instruction properly. A gentle hit would be appreciated.

Sorry: my last sentence should have said "hint" rather than "hit".

I don't like asking for hints but I'm thoroughly confused by this endgame.

I have a full grid, a theme, and the restoration instruction. The instruction seems vague, and it doesn't help that the obvious targets appear four times but don't stretch all the way across (so I can apply the instruction literally to the places indicated, but that's not going to help at all in the area where a thematic item is clearly intended to appear).

* My first instinct was to just bisect in two places, but that leads to nonsense glyphs in some places.
* If I choose the upper boundary each time, 4/5 columns (including the thematic one) are fine, but the first is not.
* If I choose the lower boundary, 3/5 columns are fine but the last two are not.
* If I make crenellations I can get all five columns to work (with an assumption that the second of the two long words remains intact), but I don't really see that this is indicated -- and indeed there are many up/down combinations possible in the relevant area, none of which seem more appropriate than the other.
* Perhaps a staircase is warranted, with a bisection for a run of columns not on the edge?
* A diagonal line leads to moire glyph problems.

This obstacle is a shame; I've enjoyed the journey so far (and the 10-character highlighting is very nice).

Smst - you have described the solution. Although there are a few places where you could put the detailed cuts, they all end up with the same final grid. There's only one grid that works.

0pt0 - the fact that you have to create one of the names tells you how big the final grid has to be. Then it's a case of going through the thought process outlined by smst. I sense your current grid may be too large or too small?

SMST, you and I appear to be at the same impasse, although you have expressed it more succinctly and more eloquently than I did.

Smellyharry, thanks for your hint(s). I think I can see how to adjust the first and last columns, but omitting the same number of cells from the other columns would leave some single letters. Whilst "a" could be a word, others could not. Omitting varying numbers of letters from the other columns could result in real words throughout, but there appear to be options (eg in columns 5 and 10) and I cannot see how to choose the right one.

you need to remove a whole chunk (nearly a rectangle) not just odd letters. The new grid only has 7 rows if i remember correctly...