Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3223

Date 12 February 2026
Number 3223
Setter Asp
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 102
Count of ref solvers 83
Ref solvers excluded with errors 8
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3223

* 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
cmjhutton 02:09 02:00 93 91
mistigris 02:34 02:33 99 97
verlaine 02:37 02:47 106 103
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:24 86 84
Flimmy flammy 03:08 02:25 77 75
Ciolf 03:15 02:40 82 80
Askival 03:17 03:13 97 95
Amoeba89 03:17 03:32 107 104
richard 03:33 03:14 91 89
Heyesey 03:39 03:04 84 82
SimonAnthony 03:49 04:06 107 104
Kinghedger 03:55 04:18 109 106
EricK 04:10 05:28 131 128
lickert 04:18 03:42 86 84
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:25 02:56 66 64
andrewlake 04:25 07:18 165 161
JayEm 04:25 05:01 113 110
tilbee 04:29 05:17 117 114
Aybee 04:33 04:19 94 92
morleyterrier 04:34 04:34 100 98
chindit 04:36 05:21 116 113
Jon Delfin 04:40 05:16 112 109
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:40 05:13 111 108
Freemers1968 04:43 05:27 115 112
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 04:08 86 84
ram80 04:47 05:46 120 117
MK76 04:49 04:46 98 96
Ed freshpot 04:50 05:32 114 111
d.middleton 05:01 05:07 101 99
neilr neilr 05:05 04:51 95 93
Vannyx 05:11 05:43 110 107
lyndaw 05:12 06:21 122 119
Rabbitoh galspray 05:12 07:29 143 140
Anomalospiza 05:13 05:53 112 109
AndyKnott321 05:13 05:53 112 109
Tibthorpe 05:14 06:00 114 111
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:19 05:48 109 106
Looch 05:35 04:34 81 79
Onelug 05:48 05:40 97 95
Finzi 05:50 06:06 104 101
Curarist 06:05 07:23 121 118
Rosron 06:08 08:16 134 131
Tudds 06:12 06:56 111 108
Dzhigit 06:22 04:37 72 70
mjsaunders9 06:27 08:18 128 125
James P 06:28 07:12 111 108
Adrian Cobb 06:30 06:56 106 103
GMcD 06:44 05:49 86 84
Kalakuta72 06:47 08:33 126 123
uvofiz 06:47 06:48 100 98
Puzzleplease 07:01 07:32 107 104
ilan 07:18 08:10 111 108
endafk 07:19 10:56 149 146
earlylight 07:20 06:14 85 83
cerid 07:29 08:24 112 109
intentional rounding 07:30 10:46 143 140
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:33 09:07 120 117
ChrisBrea 07:38 08:02 105 102
Templar Redux Templar 07:40 07:47 101 99
robinh 07:40 07:59 104 101
plett11 Plett11 07:43 07:15 93 91
metagloria 07:44 13:49 178 174
1234 07:46 07:15 93 91
TomHerbert 07:47 07:03 90 88
Rosey6 07:56 12:52 162 158
Cuppa378 07:59 07:11 89 87
John Arnold 08:07 12:36 155 151
johndun John Dunleavy 08:13 07:07 86 84
hemantyd 08:17 10:23 125 122
mattindoha 08:28 09:36 113 110
crucihacker 08:33 10:59 128 125
Mudge 08:39 12:52 148 145
Troothful 08:39 11:16 130 127
goblin 08:44 13:34 155 151
gsriordan52 08:47 11:03 125 122
starstruck starstruck_au 08:51 08:07 91 89
Word Psmith 08:59 09:56 110 107
timbo 09:01 12:48 141 138
Joseph T 09:06 06:37 72 70
Poff 09:16 07:09 77 75
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:16 07:29 80 78
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:26 09:02 95 93
crosswordian 09:33 10:34 110 107
martinr486 09:51 13:26 136 133
The Real Steve Snackman 10:04 09:18 92 90
Alias Noble 10:21 09:50 95 93
simjt simjt 10:37 10:42 100 98
Struwa Struwa 10:37 14:07 132 129
Sonofjim 10:38 15:41 147 144
Birdingbob 10:40 09:06 85 83
Cedric Statherby 10:42 15:31 145 142
chabuduo chabuduo 10:47 06:44 62 60
maisiemae 10:55 15:52 145 142
Muckypuppy 10:56 13:16 121 118
TonyN6 11:03 11:51 107 104
Srb1 11:20 06:08 54 52
BertieVII 11:31 27:12 236 231
Dr. Memory 11:32 12:01 104 101
Col-y-wobble 11:46 10:39 90 88
pfalloon 11:52 09:38 81 79
suethepotterer 11:54 11:46 98 96
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:58 11:02 92 90
Steve Wood 12:12 10:08 83 81
Gordon B 12:12 12:30 102 100
Gnasherlicious 12:33 11:43 93 91
ifincham2 12:53 17:39 136 133
Mendes Mendesest 13:11 18:27 139 136
Xebeq 13:43 20:15 147 144
Merlin_55 Merlin 13:57 17:07 122 119
nimrod86 14:18 10:50 75 73
Solvitflav 14:27 14:59 103 100
kfb20 15:07 18:45 124 121
RPE10538 RPE10538 15:17 15:46 103 100
ian.shepherd 16:52 19:12 113 110
Jean in Oxford 18:11 20:05 110 107
TonyK 18:33 18:12 98 96
Hazelnut 19:27 21:16 109 106
philby 19:36 22:04 112 109
tomtom2 20:33 22:06 107 104
thechan 22:26 20:18 90 88
dominic.c-b 22:50 26:17 115 112
Damien Grover 23:45 12:07 51 50
matt_o 24:48 26:44 107 104
paulmcl 25:34 16:48 65 63
timendo 29:25 35:03 119 116
mcfarl 46:58 36:50 78 76

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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