Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3100

Date 22 September 2025
Number 3100
Setter Oink
Day of week Monday
NITCH 76
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 3
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3100

* 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 01:45 78 102
Jason 02:35 01:59 76 100
verlaine 02:38 01:41 63 82
mistigris 02:39 02:10 81 106
Magoo 02:46 02:33 92 121
hilarym 02:50 02:28 87 114
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:06 73 96
Flimmy flammy 03:11 02:58 93 122
richard 03:37 02:56 81 106
markdobell 03:39 03:14 88 115
Heyesey 03:41 03:31 95 125
Amoeba89 03:55 02:17 58 76
Kinghedger 04:01 02:39 65 85
SimonAnthony 04:04 04:17 105 138
glheard 04:06 03:53 94 123
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 02:27 58 76
lickert 04:15 04:39 109 143
MikeOsborne 04:17 04:16 99 130
John Walsh 04:27 03:51 86 113
Morphosis 04:28 04:29 100 131
toots 04:30 04:18 95 125
MK76 04:35 04:24 96 126
chindit 04:37 03:37 78 102
EricK 04:38 02:44 58 76
Bluejacket 04:39 02:57 63 82
tilbee 04:40 03:30 75 98
lucyg43484 04:41 03:02 64 84
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 04:10 87 114
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 03:32 74 97
alexh 04:47 02:59 62 81
scrabbler 04:51 03:33 73 96
canismiser 04:52 04:37 94 123
Jon Delfin 04:52 03:46 77 101
andrewlake 04:53 04:47 97 127
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 03:27 70 92
Paul Bacon 04:54 04:30 91 119
andy 04:55 03:47 76 100
fshephe 04:56 03:37 73 96
tiggis 04:57 03:29 70 92
Johninterred 05:00 04:01 80 105
cdb_100 05:00 03:25 68 89
JayEm 05:01 03:40 73 96
neilr neilr 05:02 03:57 78 102
March 05:03 04:00 79 103
Honggui 05:06 03:57 77 101
Aybee 05:07 03:47 73 96
nina s 05:10 04:23 84 110
DunPangolin 05:14 04:49 92 121
Zander 05:14 04:18 82 107
Squallaby 05:15 03:48 72 94
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 04:45 90 118
ChuckB 05:18 03:57 74 97
Tibthorpe 05:19 04:12 78 102
babka 05:21 04:51 90 118
AndyKnott321 05:27 05:04 92 121
Vannyx 05:30 03:56 71 93
Riche Riche 05:32 04:18 77 101
rrricharrrd 05:32 04:04 73 96
whichcraft 05:36 07:00 125 164
Finzi 05:39 04:08 73 96
Crossiant 05:42 04:35 80 105
mcrossib1 05:45 04:33 79 103
Encota 05:47 04:16 73 96
chriswestontour 05:47 04:46 82 107
mw7000 05:48 04:20 74 97
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 10:05 173 227
KarenR 05:57 04:17 71 93
KET 06:02 06:38 109 143
Mike C 06:04 04:18 70 92
Anomalospiza 06:10 04:59 80 105
PGooden 06:15 03:00 48 63
Onelug 06:17 04:48 76 100
andrewfeist96 06:22 04:33 71 93
Shabbo 06:32 05:23 82 107
Dzhigit 06:34 05:38 85 111
paul.whitehouse69 06:34 05:09 78 102
Adrian Cobb 06:34 05:31 84 110
Kalakuta72 06:36 06:01 91 119
robertbridge 06:36 05:47 87 114
Tudds 06:38 04:23 66 86
GMcD 06:38 05:45 86 113
Curarist 06:42 04:05 60 78
hazyfantazee 06:43 05:12 77 101
valerian1967 06:56 05:06 73 96
mjsaunders9 06:56 04:49 69 90
KenD51 06:57 05:11 74 97
uvofiz 07:01 06:10 87 114
James P 07:05 05:22 75 98
Obrador 07:10 05:51 81 106
robertL 07:13 06:37 91 119
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 05:25 75 98
Jamie Fox 07:15 10:56 150 197
robinh 07:18 05:28 74 97
Puzzleplease 07:27 05:37 75 98
DamienKnapma 07:29 05:54 78 102
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:31 06:01 80 105
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 05:55 78 102
garsoli 07:42 05:19 69 90
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 05:18 68 89
Doyler 07:49 04:08 52 68
ChrisBrea 07:51 06:37 84 110
1234 07:51 05:16 67 88
mjwiseman 07:53 04:51 61 80
docg 07:56 05:46 72 94
smalley552 08:08 06:17 77 101
John Arnold 08:12 08:36 104 136
plett11 Plett11 08:14 04:37 56 73
ulaca ulaca 08:25 07:48 92 121
OldSolver 08:27 06:50 80 105
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 05:34 65 85
john.brassey 08:30 07:09 84 110
Jeeves 08:38 06:50 79 103
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:40 07:24 85 111
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 06:27 74 97
goblin 08:43 07:30 86 113
m5harp 08:46 06:01 68 89
RPY 08:52 06:28 72 94
luxtonj61 08:55 06:28 72 94
MichelinPoitiers 08:55 05:39 63 82
vefatica vefatica 08:56 07:55 88 115
Peloton 08:59 08:40 96 126
kath 09:02 07:33 83 109
timbo 09:11 05:32 60 78
crucihacker 09:11 05:43 62 81
raincloud 09:25 04:52 51 67
barracuda barracuda 09:28 08:17 87 114
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:31 06:18 66 86
Edprof 09:38 06:36 68 89
Solfynn 09:39 06:15 64 84
Word Psmith 09:43 07:04 72 94
phatman 10:02 09:09 91 119
intentional rounding 10:10 07:11 70 92
Birdingbob 10:12 09:34 93 122
alexngbr 10:19 07:59 77 101
Alias Noble 10:29 08:16 78 102
CoxBurglar 10:31 07:21 69 90
Nuck_the_king 11:07 13:07 117 153
TonyN6 11:14 11:44 104 136
simjt simjt 11:21 07:15 63 82
Cedric Statherby 11:34 07:42 66 86
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 09:15 79 103
Dr. Memory 11:41 13:09 112 147
Pendrov 11:44 07:09 60 78
Captain Burnaby 11:50 06:59 59 77
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 15:06 127 167
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 08:56 72 94
kapietro kapietro 12:39 09:38 76 100
Sonofjim 12:42 12:12 96 126
Hugster 12:49 09:57 77 101
martinr486 13:02 08:04 61 80
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 10:08 77 101
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 09:47 69 90
mpbthorpe 14:13 06:47 47 61
Steve Wood 14:31 09:32 65 85
Mark from Ipswich 14:31 08:21 57 75
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 17:42 119 156
domski 15:17 10:06 66 86
Holly O 15:34 16:30 105 138
david.14587 15:55 06:18 39 51
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:35 17:40 106 139
tomtom2 17:47 11:38 65 85
Damien Grover 21:14 08:29 39 51
judi 23:18 16:31 70 92
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 24:33 14:21 58 76
Flora Garden 25:01 21:51 87 114
IanV IanV 31:11 30:00 96 126
shankar 33:03 13:35 41 53
kevinlimanta 35:46 27:27 76 100
Jikolp 38:17 30:09 78 102
mcfarl 46:44 38:24 82 107
crossworder 48:57 54:52 112 147

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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