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I, too, was pleased to beat Meursault to the codeword, though if I hadn't stumbled on it I dare say I'd have welcomed his post. But that isn't the end of the story. I have a number of clues that I just can't work out - 1, 44 and 48 across and 8 down, and would welcome a few nudges for them. Also I have no idea what the unclued entries represent. A clue as to their nature would also be welcome. It's infuriating to get this far and still be defeated!

Though I've finished the puzzle, there are some answers I cannot parse.

Escuan - 1) cricket refers to the insect; 44) a piece of wood, ch = chain; 48) Pawn = p, take it away to leave charges; 8) an African knife.

For the unclued ones, think about the key and what day the puzzle was set on. I found using a website that did all the Playfair encoding and decoding invaluable. There are a few to choose from.

Escuan, 44 is a word for to move easily (especially at midnight) plus "ch". It's more usually associated with a side of ham. 8dn is an abbreviation of the name of a follower of an evangelical preacher plus "i" for independence and means "African sword or knife" as Orson said.
For the bottom unclued entry, have a look at the "other site" where you will find a couple of suggestions (if it's still there, as they don't usually like them) : the second one is correct.
I'm still struggling with the others you mention and would also appreciate a hint for 18ac and 2dn.

Got 18ac now.

I'm feeling generous as it's Christmas.
Barreter: for range think of a cooker, and a stall can be somewhere you sit.

I was just about to say I'd got 2dn, so thanks for the confirmation. Getting 18ac made it easy with the help of the Crossword Man's Playfair tool.

Finished now. Thanks, Orson, for all the help with the final clues I hadn't finished ; and to everybody who contributed to the process of sorting out the Playfair phrase (which helped me find it before Meursault's revelation).

barretter: I looked at the other site for the two suggestions to which you referred. If I have correctly identified the post in question, it seems to me that the poster has made a plausible point. I don’t understand how it’s possible to favour one possibility over the other.

As far as I can see, if you Playfair code the one beginning P it makes 22dn and 47dn meaningless.

barretter: thank you, yes, you're right, of course - I think too much coding/decoding and reverse engineering has scrambled my brain.