Key phrase? (7,5)

I believe the answer is:

opening words

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'key' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'phrase?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'phrase?' could be 'word' (synonyms) and 'word' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'openings' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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