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No sooner had I posted than I realised what my entry for 19 across should have been! Originally I had WAIT, which parsed as W(e) and ait (is being an abbreviation for island). Using the correct entry has enabled me to solve 6 and 7 down. Just 33 down eluding me now, plus the two normal clues for 11/17 and 22/31 across.

0pt0, 6 down is a greeting missing a letter containing a bounder for a reasonably common insect 7 down is a straightforward anagram but the result is a proper noun and is not given by word wizard.
I'm nearly there but 2 down eludes me and I cant fully parse 29ac doesn't seem to be an obvious half. Baffled by the normal clues as yet and therefore no endgame in sight just yet but if anyone can give me a nudge for 2 down that would be much appreciated. I do feel like i might have come across a striped cloth in a previous Listener but my memory may be deceiving me

33 down is all reversed with a letter missing from the I

Mullingar,
29a. You are looking for a 10 letter word, as one letter is lost after it is halved.
2d. Abb. for 'Are' + a word for 'dotty' (4) minus the extra letter.

I'm struggling to cross the finishing line here. I have a (possible) answer for 4d, but cannot parse it. I have no idea whatsoever as to 19a. This together with not seeing the extra letters for either 35a or 39a is causing me severe problems in understanding the end game (again!!!).

4 - First two words of clue reading upwards (screw/propeller loses last letter)

19 - queenly one is 2 letters and may refer to the only quote i know from Queen Victoria (and she may never have said it anyway)

35 - originally ends with a 5 letter word for smoke (then its middle letter removed)

39 - three letter charlie/fool (minus its 3rd) + usual "working"

Thanks Tatters - at least my hunch for 4d was correct. Now to the end game.....................

Many thanks Mullingar. I now have a completed grid and after resolving a couple of alternatives in the hint referred to in (c) I have made the substitution and entered the name at 18 12. This seems to me to complete the puzzle and means that it is not necessary to solve any of the normal clues, although I have, in fact, got the last one. Does anybody disagree?

I absolutely agree, 0pt0. It seems to me that the only function of the solutions to the normal clues was to give solvers a gentle nudge as to the nature of the substitution required in the endgame.

Yes you're right, 0pt0 - assuming I've finished the puzzle correctly it is possible to satisfy the final grid requirements without solving the normal clues, though I'm sure you'll want to for completeness. I found those clues so difficult that they didn't help me with the theme at all - rather I reverse engineered them once using information provided by the later stages of the puzzle (and a fair bit of internet searching).