In one embodiment, a receiver implements a method of demodulating a set of symbols dispersed within a time-frequency grid of a received OFDM signal. The method includes determining which one of two or more demodulators is preferred for use in a given region of the time-frequency grid by evaluating detection statistics generated by the demodulators for the set of symbols. Each demodulator operates according to different demodulation parameters that correspond to different interference assumptions. The method further includes recovering the set of symbols for decoding using whichever demodulator is preferred for each symbol according to the region from which the symbol is recovered. The method may be further extended by updating each demodulator's demodulation parameters using reference and/or data symbols from the region(s) where that demodulator is preferred, and recovering the desired symbols using the updated demodulation parameters. Such updating can be further iterated, for additional demodulation parameter refinement.