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For a variety of reasons, not least of which is the women's world cup, I have got round to this puzzle rather later than normal. I have nearly filled the grid, but struggling with 11 & 39 across and 28 & 35 down. Hints welcome.

Hi 0pt0

11a: def bird; twice skinned means take away first and last two letters;“being cooked” is “ready to eat” not “in the pan”

39a: think rather juvenile meaning of evacuate; take-off has nothing to do with planes

28d: more obscure definition of basted; “sow” isn’t a pig

35d: think famous British sci-fi

Thanks Adeano. Now for the end-game!

Having completed the grid on Saturday I abandoned any thought of the end game until today as I have been busy with other things. But now I haven’t a clue how to start - I think I’ve identified the theme, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to be drawing. Any gentle hints might help but I don’t expect anybody to give too much away or they will get into trouble here! Many thanks

Hi Diver

Have you identified the theme? The associated Wikipedia page is very helpful…

The preamble points you in the direction of the backslashes. If you look around there you should quickly spot some things.

Is this such an obscure theme that I need to rely on Wikipedia?

Not so much obscure as that the article helpfully hints at what the illustrations might be.

Could someone give me a parsing hint with 6? Got the answer and wordplay, but not sure how Barbara fits in….

Hi mooncow,
Barbara is a patron St.

From a prior post I see my answer (light) to 29d is incorrect. Any gentle tips to the answer would be appreciated. Thank you.