Quick SNITCH

A quantitative guide to the degree of difficulty of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2418

Date 15 June 2023
Number 2418
Setter Joker
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 94
Count of ref solvers 68
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2418

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

Reference, Tracked and Blog solvers with error-free solutions to this puzzle are shown below.

We also show the solver's Personal NITCH, which is their result on this puzzle compared to their average time, and the Wavelength Index of Times Cryptic Hardness, the WITCH, which is the Personal NITCH compared to the SNITCH.

Name TfTT Name Average time This time Personal NITCH WITCH
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:52 116 123
Jason 02:32 02:11 86 91
verlaine 02:36 02:52 110 117
mistigris 02:40 02:16 85 90
hilarym 02:43 03:21 123 130
cmjhutton 02:44 02:39 96 102
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 02:35 91 96
Flimmy flammy 03:04 02:49 91 96
Sheapey Sheapey 03:31 03:12 90 95
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 03:17 90 95
richard 03:39 03:23 92 97
markdobell 03:50 02:49 73 77
Kinghedger 03:52 03:37 93 98
Heyesey 03:52 05:22 138 146
Strober 04:04 03:32 86 91
lickert 04:11 03:35 85 90
chindit 04:13 03:45 88 93
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:10 74 78
AlanS 04:19 03:52 89 94
MikeOsborne 04:21 04:05 93 98
tilbee 04:21 04:49 110 117
Roscoe 04:26 04:54 110 117
tiggis 04:29 04:11 93 98
lucyg43484 04:30 05:33 123 130
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 03:54 84 89
John Walsh 04:37 04:59 107 113
Jim Willis 04:38 05:40 122 129
andrewlake 04:44 04:56 104 110
canismiser 04:45 03:47 79 84
wwalker50 04:45 04:27 93 98
March 04:46 04:07 86 91
andy 04:46 05:19 111 118
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 04:46 100 106
denislaw 04:47 03:49 79 84
alexh 04:47 05:37 117 124
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:48 05:32 115 122
Ed freshpot 04:50 04:37 95 101
MK76 04:53 05:56 121 128
Honggui 04:54 04:38 94 100
Umpire 04:54 05:00 102 108
michaelbell53 04:58 02:50 57 60
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 04:17 84 89
Squallaby 05:09 03:43 72 76
Paul Bacon 05:09 05:47 112 119
Tibthorpe 05:12 04:06 78 82
footballblue 05:17 05:27 103 109
Penfold_61 05:18 05:16 99 105
Aly Duncan 05:21 06:37 123 130
esmeralda 05:23 04:08 76 80
fshephe 05:25 05:28 100 106
daulbs 05:26 05:05 93 98
ChuckB 05:26 04:40 85 90
jimpen 05:26 05:17 97 103
KET 05:29 05:47 105 111
mw7000 05:29 06:19 115 122
Eddddddd 05:34 04:24 79 84
Finzi 05:39 06:07 108 114
Looch 05:48 06:19 108 114
squark 05:50 04:11 71 75
cheryllayne cheryllayne 05:50 05:29 94 100
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 05:51 04:51 82 87
Dzhigit 05:54 06:17 106 112
cmcnsmith 05:56 05:48 97 103
Carol 05:56 05:33 93 98
McBeak McBeak 06:00 04:16 71 75
nigel 06:00 05:56 98 104
Crossiant 06:01 05:08 85 90
Tudds 06:05 05:36 92 97
Rosron 06:07 04:12 68 72
GMcD 06:08 05:27 88 93
martinphillips 06:09 04:31 73 77
rhi.andrew 06:10 06:18 102 108
Curarist 06:12 05:36 90 95
jimwetzler 06:16 05:50 93 98
ilan 06:17 04:25 70 74
robinh 06:19 06:26 101 107
Mike Harper Mike Harper 06:32 04:54 75 79
Nangle 06:41 05:47 86 91
KenD51 06:42 05:49 86 91
alastair52 06:43 06:24 95 101
Kalakuta72 06:45 06:24 94 100
Puzzleplease 06:46 06:41 98 104
DianeRS 06:46 06:14 92 97
endafk 06:48 05:11 76 80
Hodge21 06:49 05:41 83 88
Viscomte 06:51 05:04 73 77
kath 07:10 06:22 88 93
luxtonj61 07:21 06:13 84 89
dec 07:26 06:37 89 94
Cuppa378 07:32 05:14 69 73
Crippens1 07:41 06:20 82 87

A guide to the solver status

Legend
 Reference solver used for SNITCH
 Other Reference solver
 Tracked solver
 Blog solver

Blog Solvers

Blog Solvers are those who have allowed their times to be taken from the Times for the Times blog.

Notes for Blog Solvers:

  • the most reliable format for reporting times is with format "mm:ss" or as "x minutes" in the title or at the start of the entry
  • only the first main comment for each blogger is used; responses to other comments or a second comment is ignored
  • to report errors, include "n errors" just after the time
  • If you just have a time it is assumed you have no errors unless you mention DNF or pink squares or giving up, etc, in the text
  • Examples of good time notifications are "38:30, 0 errors" and "39 minutes, 0 errors" in the comment title or as the first part of your comment

Notes

The definition of Reference and Tracked solvers is described on the Neutrinos page.

The results for Reference solvers are normally used to calcuate the SNITCH. When this happens they are shown in the list with a solid blue line to the left. In the previous SNITCH results listing for each crossword, these were the only entries shown.

The most common causes for Reference solver results not to be used are: (a) that they did not meet the criteria this month to be used as a reference (e.g. they may not have completed enough puzzles on each day of the week) or (b) they have been pushed out of the top 100 on the leader board. In these cases, the results are now shown, but their data is not used for the SNITCH calculation.

Where there is data for Tracked solvers, I show them also in this table. The solving data is not always available, as the Crossword Club site only shows the top 100 solvers to everyone. Logged-in users get their own leaderboard position and those around them, but this is not available to everyone. So the SNITCH site only gets data for those who have made the top 100 in the leaderboard at some point during the day.

As a result there are a few geographically advantaged solvers; those of us who solve early in the day (e.g. we in the Antipodes, those in Asia and those staying up late in North America) are more likely to hit the leaderboard even with slower times. Solvers who are just as capable but solve later in the UK day might not make the top 100 and I have no way to capture their results.

You may wonder why there are Tracked solvers (in red) with low average solving times, mixed in with the Reference solvers (in blue). These are usually those that, while they don't seem to be Neutrinos, are not well aligned to the SNITCH. So I don't use them as Reference solvers in the SNITCH calculation, but still show their overall results.

You might also notice that there's some inconsistency at the tail end of the Reference solver list. My cutoff point is an average solving time of 45 minutes. But if someone around this mark is chosen as a Reference solver, their next month's results might end up being over 45 minutes and they will still be used. Alternatively, a Tracked solver might creep in under 45 minutes on the next calculation, but didn't make the cut for the prior Reference list. It's on the to-do list to see if I can make this a bit more predictable.