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.


Use the list below to find an Azed Slip directly

View the Azed Slip   View a table of clues

For more search options, select the BROWSE ARCHIVE link above.


Visits: 1,028,404

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. 2,700  17th Mar

All online Azed puzzles

Dr Watson reviews Azed 2603

From the archive

It’s unyielding, sailors pushing out notice (9)

Second prize winner by L. May in competition 310

Solution