&lit
/ænd lɪt/
&lit noun: a cryptic crossword clue that can be interpreted in its entirety as either a definition or wordplay; for example, "God incarnate, essentially" for "Odin", a Norse god whose name is hidden in "God incarnate".
Noun
&lit (plural &lits)
- A cryptic crossword clue that can be interpreted in its entirety as either a definition or wordplay; for example, "God incarnate, essentially" for "Odin", a Norse god whose name is hidden in "God incarnate".
- Perfect &lits are hard to create.
- &Lit: This word play means "and take it literally." In these clues, the word play and literal definition are one and the same. &Lit clues are marked with an exclamation point at the end.2006, Nikki Katz, Zen and the Art of Crossword Puzzles: A Journey Down and Across, page 63
Forms of &lit
| plural | &lits |
|---|---|
| alternative form | & lit. |
Origin of &lit
From & + clipping of literal or literally, referring to the fact that the clue both forms a traditional cryptic clue and can be read literally as a straight clue. Coined by "Ximenes" (Derrick Somerset Macnutt) in his 1966 book Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword.
Words formed from &lit
Questions about &lit
- What does &lit mean?
- &lit means a cryptic crossword clue that can be interpreted in its entirety as either a definition or wordplay; for example, "God incarnate, essentially" for "Odin", a Norse god whose name is hidden in "God incarnate".
- What part of speech is &lit?
- &lit is a noun.
- How do you pronounce &lit?
- &lit is pronounced /ænd lɪt/.
- What is the plural of &lit?
- The plural of &lit is &lits.
Words near &lit in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: &lit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “&lit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/%26lit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.