Welcome to & lit. – The Azed Slip Archive

In this Archive you can find thousands of the best Cryptic Crossword Clues from more than 75 years of the Observer Azed and Ximenes clue-writing competitions.

See it here first – & lit. publishes the latest Azed Slip every month,
and Dr Watson’s reviews, as soon as they’re available.

To find out more about the site, select the About & lit. link on the left, and for recent developments, select the Archive latest link.


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The Azed Cup

Dr S. J. Shaw wins First Prize in competition 2603.

TERAS def. PRATT (Wrong Number)

After dismissing jolly, Starmer’s ordered to reveal what could lie behind dreadful Labour experience

This year’s honours table

The next Azed competition puzzle will be on


Latest  AZED  No. 2,727  22nd Sep

All online Azed puzzles

Dr Watson reviews Azed 2603

From the archive

Buffalo innards for budget curries required by the ton (9, 2 words)

Third prize winner by D. K. Arnott in competition 2139

Solution