Whitespace in Table Cells

I would call myself an intermediate-level "XSL guy."  I am currently trying to generate a form from an existing XML instance by utilizing XSL, and part of the form involves a grid for six possible choices for values.  If any fewer than all six values are present (which occurs almost all the time), I would like the other portions of the grid to display as empty.  However, when I build code to do this with XSL, it turns out that the empty portions of the grid do not render at all, and the grid looks as though it only has room for the values it displays.  For example, if there are two values, the space occupied by the grid as a whole is occupied instead with two data cells and nothing more.
 
I have tried several workarounds: utilizing <xsl:text> within a <td> element, calling a variable whose value is whitespace within a <td> element, calling a template with a parameter whose value is whitespace within a <td> element, and utilizing &nbsp; and &#160 (which actually causes the page to bomb in Internet Explorer 6 and I am not quite sure why) within a <td> element.  None of these have worked.
 
I never thought something so trivial as whitesapce could be so perplexing.  Are the circumstances I described unique to Internet Explorer, or would they arise just as seamlessly in other renderings (e.g. by Xalan)?  And of course, any solutions or insights into this problem would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks very much.

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