Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2479

Date 08 September 2023
Number 2479
Day of week Friday
NITCH 117
Count of ref solvers 65
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2479

* 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 02:07 96 82
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:38 106 90
Jason 02:32 02:56 115 98
verlaine 02:36 02:47 107 91
mistigris 02:40 03:05 115 98
hilarym 02:43 04:01 147 125
cmjhutton 02:44 02:35 94 80
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 03:04 108 92
Flimmy flammy 03:04 03:20 108 92
richard 03:39 03:19 90 76
markdobell 03:50 03:51 100 85
Heyesey 03:52 04:25 114 97
Kinghedger 03:52 05:07 132 112
chriss 04:01 04:20 107 91
glheard 04:02 04:28 110 94
Strober 04:04 05:01 123 105
xyster 04:04 04:25 108 92
lickert 04:11 03:45 89 76
chindit 04:13 04:22 103 88
nina s 04:19 02:37 60 51
trux 04:29 04:32 101 86
lucyg43484 04:30 05:31 122 104
Jim Willis 04:38 06:07 132 112
andrewlake 04:44 04:24 92 78
canismiser 04:45 05:49 122 104
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 04:17 89 76
andy 04:46 05:02 105 89
March 04:46 06:13 130 111
alexh 04:47 05:42 119 101
Ed freshpot 04:50 07:16 150 128
MK76 04:53 06:15 127 108
Umpire 04:54 07:18 148 126
Zander 05:02 06:55 137 117
The Dabbler 05:05 05:06 100 85
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 06:33 128 109
Squallaby 05:09 07:51 152 129
Liari 05:09 08:02 155 132
neilr neilr 05:10 05:31 106 90
Tibthorpe 05:12 05:26 104 88
fishernick79 05:19 07:23 138 117
esmeralda 05:23 09:22 173 147
fshephe 05:25 08:21 154 131
ChuckB 05:26 06:33 120 102
daulbs 05:26 07:32 138 117
george.plumbly 05:28 06:04 110 94
KET 05:29 04:31 82 70
stguest2 05:32 05:09 93 79
Finzi 05:39 06:15 110 94
Shabbo 05:46 06:56 120 102
Looch 05:48 06:29 111 94
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 05:51 06:27 110 94
cath23 05:52 05:40 96 82
Dzhigit 05:54 08:05 137 117
Carol 05:56 06:11 104 88
McBeak McBeak 06:00 05:48 96 82
nigel 06:00 07:59 133 113
Crossiant 06:01 09:15 153 130
PGooden 06:03 06:44 111 94
RobR RobR 06:03 07:48 128 109
Tudds 06:05 07:04 116 99
GMcD 06:08 05:44 93 79
hopkinb hopkinb 06:08 07:06 115 98
ilan 06:17 09:24 149 127
James P 06:18 07:40 121 103
robinh 06:19 06:38 105 89
Michael Dove 06:23 09:13 144 123
Mike Mansbridge 06:24 05:59 93 79
paul.whitehouse69 06:25 09:15 144 123
Wyn Lewis Wyn Lewis 06:28 03:44 57 48
uvofiz 06:30 06:15 96 82
Mike Harper Mike Harper 06:32 08:19 127 108
Dvynys Dvynys 06:37 06:43 101 86
jon 06:42 08:30 126 107
Kalakuta72 06:45 06:44 99 84
Puzzleplease 06:46 09:13 136 116
endafk 06:48 07:17 107 91
1234 06:48 09:43 142 121
Edprof 06:49 06:26 94 80
timbo 06:51 09:04 132 112
Deezzaa Deezzaa 06:56 08:51 127 108
Corymbia Corymbia 06:57 08:41 124 105
Cookincats 06:57 07:52 113 96
ChrisBrea 06:57 06:54 99 84
ratterz 07:00 07:01 100 85
Freemers 07:17 07:17 100 85
Cryptique 07:17 09:19 127 108
Andrew Whiffin 07:25 09:27 127 108
CoxBurglar 07:37 09:44 127 108
TomHerbert 07:52 09:22 119 101
vinyl12345 vinyl1 07:53 10:00 126 107
jaraab 07:54 08:57 113 96
Pauline Minter 08:42 09:14 106 90
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 09:39 08:59 93 79
Birdingbob 09:41 09:41 100 85
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 16:37 21:21 128 109

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.