Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2573

Date 16 January 2024
Number 2573
Setter Alex
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 94
Count of ref solvers 69
Ref solvers excluded with errors 14
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2573

* 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 02:07 02:10 102 108
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:03 83 88
mistigris 02:37 02:33 97 103
hilarym 02:44 02:32 92 97
cmjhutton 02:45 01:49 66 70
aphis99 aphis99 02:46 02:11 78 82
verlaine 02:47 02:21 84 89
SimonAnthony 03:33 04:32 127 135
markdobell 03:40 04:13 115 122
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:45 03:23 90 95
glheard 03:57 03:37 91 96
lickert 04:07 04:10 101 107
chindit 04:09 03:34 85 90
MikeOsborne 04:21 04:50 111 118
xyster 04:22 03:41 84 89
Umpire 04:28 04:43 105 111
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:28 05:15 117 124
AlanS 04:32 04:22 96 102
tiggis 04:33 04:00 87 92
tilbee 04:34 04:04 89 94
alexh 04:34 04:44 103 109
Liari 04:37 05:00 108 114
MK76 04:38 04:03 87 92
John Walsh 04:38 04:42 101 107
lucyg43484 04:43 04:40 98 104
canismiser 04:43 06:18 133 141
andrewlake 04:52 04:00 82 87
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:53 06:07 125 132
Ed freshpot 04:54 05:02 102 108
andy 04:54 04:53 99 105
Johninterred 04:55 03:39 74 78
Honggui 04:56 04:53 98 104
LouWeed LouWeed 04:58 03:41 74 78
March 04:58 04:42 94 100
MossDef 05:06 06:03 118 125
nina s 05:09 07:35 147 156
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:10 05:45 111 118
Zander 05:11 05:33 107 113
ChuckB 05:19 06:10 115 122
Eddddddd 05:19 03:44 70 74
Squallaby 05:19 04:39 87 92
daulbs 05:21 04:59 93 98
fshephe 05:22 04:35 85 90
KET 05:26 06:04 111 118
Spanna 05:28 06:24 117 124
neilr neilr 05:29 05:55 107 113
esmeralda 05:35 03:29 62 65
fishernick79 05:43 04:30 78 82
Finzi 05:45 06:03 105 111
Looch 05:46 05:13 90 95
Dzhigit 05:48 05:56 102 108
mw7000 05:49 07:22 126 134
McBeak McBeak 05:56 04:47 80 85
RobR RobR 05:58 05:35 93 98
GMcD 06:05 06:34 107 113
Tudds 06:10 07:16 117 124
LuckOfLucien 06:16 05:09 82 87
ilan 06:20 05:53 92 97
PGooden 06:28 06:34 101 107
uvofiz 06:34 07:47 118 125
Viscomte 06:34 06:20 96 102
hopkinb hopkinb 06:36 05:32 83 88
julian_w 06:38 06:51 103 109
KenD51 06:39 08:07 122 129
robinh 06:44 06:48 100 106
Julian Forbes 06:48 06:48 100 106
James P 06:51 05:48 84 89
jon 06:51 05:11 75 79
SlumdogEngineer 07:04 05:37 79 84
Nangle 07:05 07:10 101 107
Riche Riche 07:07 08:14 115 122
Dvynys Dvynys 07:08 12:49 179 190
benedick 07:18 06:44 92 97
frost 07:35 07:21 96 102
Andrew Whiffin 07:43 07:34 98 104
John Arnold 07:50 05:28 69 73
ChrisBrea 07:50 06:53 87 92
gsriordan52 07:50 09:04 115 122
Cuppa378 07:53 11:29 145 154
Corymbia Corymbia 07:57 07:17 91 96
CrystalPip 08:01 07:14 90 95
nigel 08:02 07:08 88 93
banishspam 08:06 09:16 114 121
TomHerbert 08:07 05:51 72 76
DamienKnapma 08:09 07:02 86 91
mattindoha 08:10 08:06 99 105
crosswordian 08:12 09:01 109 115
Templar Redux Templar 08:17 07:53 95 101
Crippens1 08:20 07:54 94 100
plett11 Plett11 08:20 08:06 97 103
m5harp 08:22 09:47 116 123
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 08:24 10:04 119 126
ulaca ulaca 08:26 05:46 68 72
johndun John Dunleavy 08:27 09:10 108 114
sue.cresswell 08:28 06:53 81 86
barracuda barracuda 08:29 09:09 107 113
raincloud 08:30 09:48 115 122
nigelmzzz 08:33 08:22 97 103
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:37 13:35 157 167
goblin 08:38 07:11 83 88
JanieP 08:40 09:37 110 117
hemantyd 08:43 10:09 116 123
vefatica vefatica 08:46 09:06 103 109
chriswestontour 08:55 06:07 68 72
AndyLast 09:04 07:15 79 84
Nigel1953 09:23 07:55 84 89
Doyler 09:28 06:55 73 77
CoxBurglar 09:43 08:08 83 88
edwards.robert1 09:58 09:43 97 103
smalley552 10:03 09:37 95 101
BertieVII 10:11 09:07 89 94
Jeeves 10:18 09:51 95 101
nishadamri nishadamri 10:32 07:58 75 79
Pendrov 10:37 09:11 86 91
Birdingbob 10:45 06:39 61 64
jackk.larg 10:52 10:46 99 105
suethepotterer 11:04 09:30 85 90
Dr. Memory 11:10 11:43 104 110
Cryptique 11:27 06:22 55 58
Rhys 11:37 07:40 65 69
alex.scordellis 11:39 09:28 81 86
hipponym 11:44 08:40 73 77
Troothful 11:58 11:51 99 105
alistair.boere 12:04 08:49 73 77
flashman flashman 12:08 10:01 82 87
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:09 11:00 90 95
simjt simjt 12:10 12:12 100 106
mpbthorpe 12:19 08:39 70 74
ifincham2 12:35 08:09 64 68
chabuduo chabuduo 13:06 12:52 98 104
Monkos 13:09 09:57 75 79
phcbarnes 13:12 15:16 115 122
ezoredfox 13:56 10:08 72 76
Xebeq 14:05 23:10 164 174
william.horner 15:00 12:17 81 86
Mendes 15:04 19:01 126 134
Mozbo 15:46 08:38 54 57
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 16:08 11:10 69 73
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 16:08 14:18 88 93
Narayanan 17:25 17:36 101 107
Jean in Oxford 19:02 16:09 84 89
TonyK 19:21 16:07 83 88
david.14587 19:33 12:20 63 67
intentional rounding 20:17 15:04 74 78
Geldart 22:01 25:29 115 122
paulmcl 22:43 54:37 240 255
deebeeem 23:16 12:55 55 58
dominic.c-b 24:19 18:26 75 79
Pompeydave 25:35 25:41 100 106
Ajay 27:04 21:01 77 81
lazydays 27:55 17:43 63 67

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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