Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3097

Date 18 September 2025
Number 3097
Setter Jalna
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 79
Count of ref solvers 74
Ref solvers excluded with errors 26
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3097

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

 

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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 02:14 01:42 76 96
Jason 02:35 01:54 73 92
verlaine 02:38 01:45 66 83
mistigris 02:39 03:12 120 151
Magoo 02:46 02:53 104 131
hilarym 02:50 02:40 94 118
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:26 85 107
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:48 119 150
markdobell 03:39 02:34 70 88
Heyesey 03:41 02:30 67 84
Amoeba89 03:55 02:20 59 74
SimonAnthony 04:04 02:54 71 89
glheard 04:06 02:45 67 84
lickert 04:15 04:12 98 124
John Walsh 04:27 04:41 105 132
MK76 04:35 04:07 89 112
chindit 04:37 04:16 92 116
EricK 04:38 04:14 91 115
tilbee 04:40 03:18 70 88
lucyg43484 04:41 04:44 101 127
Freemers 04:44 05:00 105 132
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 03:21 70 88
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 03:52 81 102
alexh 04:47 04:33 95 120
scrabbler 04:51 05:18 109 137
canismiser 04:52 04:54 100 126
Jon Delfin 04:52 03:24 69 87
andrewlake 04:53 03:20 68 86
andy 04:55 03:21 68 86
fshephe 04:56 04:06 83 105
d.middleton 04:57 04:17 86 108
cdb_100 05:00 03:50 76 96
March 05:03 03:27 68 86
Ed freshpot 05:04 04:07 81 102
Zander 05:14 04:22 83 105
Squallaby 05:15 04:13 80 101
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 04:35 87 110
Tibthorpe 05:19 04:40 87 110
babka 05:21 05:22 100 126
cmcnsmith 05:25 05:48 107 135
Vannyx 05:30 03:59 72 91
Riche Riche 05:32 04:23 79 100
Streaky Bacon 05:35 04:36 82 103
Finzi 05:39 05:22 94 118
Crossiant 05:42 04:59 87 110
mcrossib1 05:45 03:46 65 82
chriswestontour 05:47 05:39 97 122
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 04:17 73 92
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 04:59 84 106
KarenR 05:57 03:58 66 83
Looch 05:58 06:03 101 127
KET 06:02 05:19 88 111
Mike C 06:04 04:45 78 98
Anomalospiza 06:10 05:04 82 103
PGooden 06:15 05:01 80 101
Onelug 06:17 07:00 111 140
Carol 06:20 05:36 88 111
dr.shred dr.shred 06:26 03:53 60 75
thewanderingeditor 06:27 03:54 60 75
Adrian Cobb 06:34 06:55 105 132
Dzhigit 06:34 05:17 80 101
Kalakuta72 06:36 04:30 68 86
GMcD 06:38 06:10 92 116
Tudds 06:38 05:59 90 113
jimwetzler 06:39 06:26 96 121
Curarist 06:42 04:46 71 89
endafk 06:42 05:32 82 103
jon 06:47 06:16 92 116
mjsaunders9 06:56 06:10 88 111
uvofiz 07:01 08:17 118 149
James P 07:05 05:18 74 93
Nangle 07:08 06:26 90 113
robertL 07:13 07:37 105 132
Jamie Fox 07:15 04:01 55 69
robinh 07:18 08:30 116 146
DamienKnapma 07:29 07:15 96 121
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 10:34 139 175
TomHerbert 07:44 07:41 99 125
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 06:21 81 102
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 06:00 77 97
Doyler 07:49 04:44 60 75
1234 07:51 06:28 82 103
ChrisBrea 07:51 06:17 80 101
docg 07:56 07:07 89 112
smalley552 08:08 08:24 103 130
plett11 Plett11 08:14 09:05 110 139
Sheen 08:15 08:12 99 125
ulaca ulaca 08:25 05:08 60 75
wwicksteed 08:25 07:26 88 111
OldSolver 08:27 08:00 94 118
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 06:01 70 88
alex.scordellis 08:34 05:49 67 84
hemantyd 08:36 09:47 113 143
Jeeves 08:38 08:13 95 120
jaraab 08:38 07:54 91 115
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 08:18 95 120
goblin 08:43 08:35 98 124
m5harp 08:46 08:59 102 129
mattindoha 08:49 07:20 83 105
Troothful 08:56 07:33 84 106
nigelmzzz 09:06 07:35 83 105
gsriordan52 09:08 09:30 104 131
f4rch 09:09 04:15 46 58
mich_punk 09:17 08:09 87 110
raincloud 09:25 07:06 75 94
barracuda barracuda 09:28 09:26 99 125
Poff 09:40 04:57 51 64
phatman 10:02 19:12 191 241
intentional rounding 10:10 05:37 55 69
alexngbr 10:19 05:15 50 63
starstruck starstruck_au 10:49 06:28 59 74
Nuck_the_king 11:07 08:22 75 94
TonyN6 11:14 09:03 80 101
simjt simjt 11:21 06:06 53 67
paul.verney 11:23 10:38 93 117
Cedric Statherby 11:34 08:43 75 94
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 08:48 75 94
Dr. Memory 11:41 11:18 96 121
Captain Burnaby 11:50 07:43 65 82
E Bradford E Bradford 11:52 07:22 62 78
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 12:38 106 134
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 06:04 49 62
kapietro kapietro 12:39 13:51 109 137
Sonofjim 12:42 07:12 56 70
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 14:57 113 143
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 10:08 72 91
mpbthorpe 14:13 08:14 57 72
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 10:18 69 87
james 15:08 12:27 82 103
pfalloon 15:15 06:21 41 51
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:25 15:48 102 129
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:45 07:20 46 58
New Driver 16:06 11:17 70 88
Narayanan 16:56 17:16 101 127
Jean in Oxford 17:37 17:03 96 121
bangsar DearHector 21:12 14:35 68 86
Askani 21:15 11:40 54 68
Hazelnut 21:47 22:19 102 129
philby 22:00 13:24 60 75
dominic.c-b 22:21 22:54 102 129
Sotogrande1 23:56 02:27 10 12
mozbadel mozbadel 24:24 24:05 98 124
paulmcl 24:28 09:27 38 48
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 24:33 26:30 107 135
Jikolp 38:17 46:40 121 153

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.

Stored SNITCH Values

Here are the SNITCH values (stored on the day) from the crossword.

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