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Very neat puzzle, nowhere near as taxing as some have implied. The first 2 letters of 23a (WH) actually encode to ZD rather than the first two letters of the codeword (which encode the last 2 letters of 23a).

Happy New Year everyone !

Heisenberg.
Comments 1 & 4, probably there are others. In addition to all those who contribute to the forum, there are some who are read-only. Ash and Norah would probably have an idea of the proportions.

I don't intend to debate with anyone as to what is a 'reasonable' amount of information to give. If others would kindly keep their moral valuations to themselves, it will make for a more harmonious 2016.

By definition, if you come onto a crossword help site, you either are seeking, or expect to see - help. One solver, immediately after I had posted the keyword, commented that he had been able to avoid reading it. So my precautions were sufficient, except for those who wish to argue. To them I say, argue as much as you like but I'm not joining in with that argument.

Happy New Year.

Meursault:

In an earlier post you said: "Firstly, I think that the puzzle is fundamentally flawed if it cannot be progressively solved, instead requiring a big bang." This is demonstrably wrong as follows from this rule for Playfairs:

If plaintext ab encodes to cd and c and d are in the same row (or column), then a and a are also in that row (or column) and a directly precedes c and b directly precedes d.

No 'big bang' is needed; one does need to cold solve clues 23a, 29a, 33a, 41a, 12d and 35d (or enough of them to make progress, but most of those are fairly easy by Listener standards. If you do that, you immediately have 48% of the Playfair without any other solving needed:

P A _ _ I
_ G B O _
_ _ _ F_
L _ _ R T
_ _ W Y _

which forces:

P A _ _ I
_ G B O _
_ _ _ F_
L _ _ R T
U V W Y Z (and tells you both S and X are in the keyphrase)

That is clearly enough to discover the keyphrase.

Just because you (apparently) failed to find the logical entry into this fine deductive puzzle, you concluded that it must be “fundamentally flawed” and apparently felt the desire to revenge yourself on the setter, Horvendile, by blurting out the answer even though no one had asked and in fact others asked that you not do so. How arrogant you are. Why not just post the entire solution? That’s the logical corollary to your spoilsport attitude.

Oops:

If plaintext ab encodes to cd and c and d are in the same row (or column), then a and b are also in that row (or column) and a directly precedes c and b directly precedes d.

Oops #2:

I drew the wrong inference from 12d - the G is not deducible from that; but the V is:

P A _ _ I
_ _ B O _
_ _ _ F_
L _ _ R T
_ V W Y _

Buzzb,
Unfortunate you went to all that trouble.
"To them I say, argue as much as you like but I'm not joining in with that argument."

I have no interest in arguing with you either. Anyone familiar with this site knows that is pointless. I do have an interest in demonstrating to others how much you delight in giving away secrets and how poisonous your posts are.

I am sure there are many who have come here hoping for a gentle nudge or help on a specific clue who never come back out of fear that another post from meursault will spoil they're fun.

For example, on the very first page of this thread, Orson makes a post that asks for a nudge re how to generally approach this difficult puzzle. Meursault sees fit to respond with not one but three explicit answers to clues - in all caps, making it virtually impossible not to have those three clues spoiled. Had anyone asked about those clues? Of course not.

Buzzb,

The problem you seem unable to grasp is that I am not you, and you are not me. You are a single human being with a unique existence. Provided you observe the law of the land, you are free to decide how to express yourself, in word and action, in any way you like. And I wouldn't dream of making your decisions for you. If you would kindly afford me the same courtesy...

Your last comment wasn't very friendly, not in keeping with this site. My comments aren't poisonous.

I quote " If in doubt, I will do what such people least want me to do."
Perhaps not poisonous, but not far off it!

Gem94, do you play chess ? It is warfare on a board. But it is not poisonous, and generally the players are friendly before and after the game. I reported Buzzb's comment : the use of inflammatory language serves no useful purpose.