Enigmatic Variations No. 1688: Spies by Luxor

Hi all.  I spy with my little eye, a secret mission …

The preamble:

A group of SPIES has gone undercover within the puzzle. Three of their surnames, along with the focus of their attention, are concealed in four clues and must be removed before solving (sometimes with changes to punctuation). Wordplay in 36 other clues generates an extra letter not to be entered into the grid; read in clue order these provide further information about the mission. In the completed grid, solvers must highlight where the results of the surveillance can be found (two words, 15 letters). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

Sounds interesting!

I started in the NE and proceeded steadily from there.  The first name I spied was MADGE in 6d, followed by SPENDER in 10d.  When I saw the RING in 10a I thought that must be the object, but once HARRISSON appeared I had to have a rethink and reinstate it as part of the clue.  I didn’t make a note of when I discovered the BOLTONIANS.  In any case, I didn’t start my search  early but waited patiently for the message to emerge:

MASS OBSERVATION OF NINETEEN THIRTY SEVEN

I found it interesting to read about The Mass Observation project, which aimed to record and document the lives, habits and opinions of ordinary people in Britain.  An early focus in 1937 was Bolton, known as “worktown” to the project.  Hidden in the clues are “spies” anthropologist Tom Harrisson, journalist Charles Madge and photographer Humphrey Spender.  Another founder who has not made his way into the puzzle is film-maker Humphrey Jennings.

The WORKTOWN ARCHIVE is currently kept at the University of Sussex which holds material from the original project, which ran into the early 1950s, as well as the modern incarnation of the project which started in 1981 and is still going.

Thanks to Luxor for a nicely-pitched and informative puzzle.