Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2437

Date 12 July 2023
Number 2437
Setter Orpheus
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 77
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2437

* 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
mohn 02:11 01:38 74 96
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:12 89 115
Jason 02:32 01:56 76 98
verlaine 02:36 01:55 73 94
mistigris 02:40 01:59 74 96
hilarym 02:43 02:39 97 125
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 01:45 62 80
Flimmy flammy 03:04 03:05 100 129
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 02:28 67 87
richard 03:39 02:39 72 93
markdobell 03:50 02:49 73 94
Heyesey 03:52 02:36 67 87
Kinghedger 03:52 02:51 73 94
glheard 04:02 03:25 84 109
Strober 04:04 04:40 114 148
lickert 04:11 02:41 64 83
chindit 04:13 02:54 68 88
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:22 79 102
chriswords 04:14 04:10 98 127
AlanS 04:19 03:09 72 93
MikeOsborne 04:21 03:18 75 97
tilbee 04:21 03:15 74 96
Roscoe 04:26 04:00 90 116
patrickcates 04:33 03:35 78 101
jfisher60 04:33 03:04 67 87
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 03:03 66 85
John Walsh 04:37 03:37 78 101
Jim Willis 04:38 04:05 88 114
andrewlake 04:44 04:44 100 129
canismiser 04:45 03:29 73 94
andy 04:46 04:17 89 115
March 04:46 03:53 81 105
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 03:43 77 100
alexh 04:47 04:28 93 120
denislaw 04:47 03:56 82 106
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:48 03:45 78 101
Ed freshpot 04:50 03:33 73 94
Ease This Jam 04:50 03:04 63 81
MK76 04:53 04:22 89 115
Honggui 04:54 02:32 51 66
Umpire 04:54 05:04 103 133
Zander 05:02 04:35 91 118
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 03:16 64 83
Squallaby 05:09 03:33 68 88
neilr neilr 05:10 03:52 74 96
annbrew 05:11 05:02 97 125
Tibthorpe 05:12 03:43 71 92
footballblue 05:17 04:49 91 118
Penfold_61 05:18 04:13 79 102
Aly Duncan 05:21 04:47 89 115
esmeralda 05:23 02:47 51 66
fshephe 05:25 04:23 80 103
daulbs 05:26 04:13 77 100
ChuckB 05:26 04:03 74 96
jimpen 05:26 04:29 82 106
george.plumbly 05:28 04:45 86 111
KET 05:29 04:54 89 115
Rabbitoh 05:32 03:28 62 80
john.marshall 05:33 04:15 76 98
AndyR 05:36 05:01 89 115
Shabbo 05:46 03:29 60 77
Looch 05:48 05:02 86 111
cheryllayne cheryllayne 05:50 04:42 80 103
cath23 05:52 04:35 78 101
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 05:09 87 112
Carol 05:56 05:04 85 110
McBeak McBeak 06:00 04:58 82 106
Crossiant 06:01 03:42 61 79
DunPangolin 06:03 03:47 62 80
PGooden 06:03 04:40 77 100
Tudds 06:05 04:27 73 94
GMcD 06:08 04:13 68 88
Curarist 06:12 04:26 71 92
ilan 06:17 04:29 71 92
James P 06:18 04:54 77 100
Michael Dove 06:23 04:28 69 89
tds 06:29 04:44 73 94
Gussie 06:35 04:53 74 96
Dvynys Dvynys 06:37 05:06 77 100
Nangle 06:41 04:46 71 92
John Arnold 06:44 05:08 76 98
maisiemae 06:45 04:10 61 79
1234 06:48 04:43 69 89
endafk 06:48 04:25 64 83
Edprof 06:49 04:11 61 79
Viscomte 06:51 04:25 64 83
Corymbia Corymbia 06:57 04:25 63 81
ratterz 07:00 04:20 61 79
Templar Redux Templar 07:37 04:59 65 84

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.