Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2444

Date 21 July 2023
Number 2444
Setter Teazel
Day of week Friday
NITCH 94
Count of ref solvers 68
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2444

* 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 02:28 112 119
Paul Gilbert 02:28 03:04 124 131
verlaine 02:36 02:25 92 97
mistigris 02:40 02:37 98 104
hilarym 02:43 03:16 120 127
cmjhutton 02:44 02:55 106 112
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 02:16 80 85
Flimmy flammy 03:04 02:48 91 96
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 03:33 97 103
richard 03:39 03:05 84 89
markdobell 03:50 04:30 117 124
Heyesey 03:52 03:04 79 84
Kinghedger 03:52 03:29 90 95
glheard 04:02 04:11 103 109
lickert 04:11 03:51 92 97
chindit 04:13 03:39 86 91
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:30 82 87
chriswords 04:14 04:30 106 112
AlanS 04:19 03:42 85 90
MikeOsborne 04:21 03:18 75 79
tilbee 04:21 03:39 83 88
Roscoe 04:26 03:31 79 84
tiggis 04:29 05:45 128 136
patrickcates 04:33 05:14 115 122
jfisher60 04:33 04:42 103 109
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 04:24 95 101
Jim Willis 04:38 04:17 92 97
andrewlake 04:44 04:52 102 108
canismiser 04:45 03:50 80 85
andy 04:46 04:50 101 107
March 04:46 05:16 110 117
alexh 04:47 04:13 88 93
denislaw 04:47 05:45 120 127
Ed freshpot 04:50 05:01 103 109
Ease This Jam 04:50 03:50 79 84
Ostralegus 04:53 04:06 83 88
MK76 04:53 05:18 108 114
Honggui 04:54 04:57 101 107
Zander 05:02 03:52 76 80
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 04:22 85 90
Squallaby 05:09 03:30 67 71
Liari 05:09 05:11 100 106
neilr neilr 05:10 04:37 89 94
Tibthorpe 05:12 05:50 112 119
Penfold_61 05:18 04:33 85 90
fishernick79 05:19 05:16 99 105
esmeralda 05:23 04:46 88 93
fshephe 05:25 04:05 75 79
daulbs 05:26 03:45 69 73
ChuckB 05:26 04:59 91 96
jimpen 05:26 05:32 101 107
george.plumbly 05:28 06:03 110 117
Dekkers 05:31 04:43 85 90
admin 05:31 05:55 107 113
Rabbitoh 05:32 05:11 93 98
AndyR 05:36 06:23 113 120
Shabbo 05:46 05:12 90 95
Looch 05:48 04:33 78 82
cheryllayne cheryllayne 05:50 02:18 39 41
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 05:51 05:13 89 94
cath23 05:52 04:26 75 79
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 06:30 110 117
Carol 05:56 05:16 88 93
SimonB 05:56 06:16 105 111
cmcnsmith 05:56 06:19 106 112
Crossiant 06:01 05:51 97 103
PGooden 06:03 05:07 84 89
DunPangolin 06:03 05:44 94 100
Tudds 06:05 04:23 72 76
Rosron 06:07 04:56 80 85
hopkinb hopkinb 06:08 06:18 102 108
GMcD 06:08 06:47 110 117
rhi.andrew 06:10 06:10 100 106
npweston 06:14 06:39 106 112
paul.whitehouse69 06:25 06:35 102 108
Wyn Lewis Wyn Lewis 06:28 06:08 94 100
uvofiz 06:30 06:22 97 103
julian_w 06:34 06:46 103 109
KenD51 06:42 06:57 103 109
jon 06:42 06:58 103 109
DrBill 06:42 05:47 86 91
Riche Riche 06:43 06:42 99 105
John Arnold 06:44 06:38 98 104
1234 06:48 05:29 80 85
Edprof 06:49 05:11 76 80
timbo 06:51 06:25 93 98
Viscomte 06:51 05:36 81 86
Cookincats 06:57 06:43 96 102
ratterz 07:00 05:10 73 77
goldenpie 07:06 06:39 93 98
sue.cresswell 07:46 06:08 78 82
TomHerbert 07:52 05:51 74 78

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.