Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2598

Date 14 February 2024
Number 2598
Setter Trelawney
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 85
Count of ref solvers 70
Ref solvers excluded with errors 2
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2598

* 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
Paul Gilbert 02:30 02:06 84 98
mistigris 02:41 02:10 80 94
cmjhutton 02:43 01:58 72 84
hilarym 02:47 03:12 114 134
verlaine 02:49 01:40 59 69
aphis99 aphis99 02:50 02:44 96 112
Flimmy flammy 03:05 03:24 110 129
Sheapey Sheapey 03:23 02:24 70 82
Heyesey 03:38 02:45 75 88
markdobell 03:38 02:42 74 87
richard 03:41 03:43 100 117
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:46 04:56 130 152
SimonAnthony 03:52 05:12 134 157
glheard 03:59 03:14 81 95
Kinghedger 04:09 03:07 75 88
lickert 04:09 03:36 86 101
chindit 04:10 04:12 100 117
Strober 04:19 04:13 97 114
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:30 04:16 94 110
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:32 04:17 94 110
MikeOsborne 04:32 04:05 90 105
John Walsh 04:36 04:27 96 112
alexh 04:37 05:14 113 132
denislaw 04:38 03:50 82 96
Golvellius 04:38 03:23 73 85
tilbee 04:40 04:08 88 103
Jim Willis 04:43 03:30 74 87
Liari 04:43 04:22 92 108
canismiser 04:45 04:02 84 98
MK76 04:46 02:00 41 48
lucyg43484 04:48 02:57 61 71
Paul Bacon 04:51 05:21 110 129
andy 04:52 04:17 88 103
Ed freshpot 04:55 05:20 108 127
Johninterred 04:57 05:21 108 127
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:59 05:43 114 134
LouWeed LouWeed 05:01 05:05 101 118
grape 05:10 04:45 91 107
Zander 05:17 05:19 100 117
ChuckB 05:21 04:32 84 98
Penfold_61 05:23 05:10 95 111
Tibthorpe 05:23 05:16 97 114
Squallaby 05:25 04:15 78 91
daulbs 05:25 03:39 67 78
fshephe 05:25 04:29 82 96
neilr neilr 05:36 04:55 87 102
KET 05:38 03:33 63 74
Finzi 05:43 06:03 105 123
Rabbitoh 05:48 06:01 103 121
Looch 05:50 05:32 94 110
Rosron 05:54 05:21 90 105
Dzhigit 05:55 04:37 78 91
mw7000 05:56 03:53 65 76
MrChumley MrChumley 05:57 06:42 112 131
Encota 05:58 05:16 88 103
McBeak McBeak 06:02 05:39 93 109
howardwilde1 06:03 05:24 89 104
Shabbo 06:04 06:32 107 125
LuckOfLucien 06:04 05:31 90 105
Carol 06:04 06:41 110 129
cmcnsmith 06:04 05:39 93 109
Freemers 06:06 04:40 76 89
GMcD 06:13 05:40 91 107
Tudds 06:17 05:26 86 101
mandyroberts2007 06:18 07:09 113 132
mcrossib1 06:23 04:31 70 82
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:28 04:47 73 85
hopkinb hopkinb 06:32 06:13 95 111
ilan 06:34 07:27 113 132
JMbrow29 06:37 04:26 67 78
PGooden 06:38 06:06 91 107
Julian Forbes 06:41 05:16 78 91
robinh 06:45 06:05 90 105
Adrian Cobb 06:52 04:34 66 77
James P 06:55 06:08 88 103
Nangle 07:05 08:27 119 140
Riche Riche 07:06 08:19 117 137
benedick 07:08 07:55 110 129
rhi.andrew 07:09 05:26 75 88
Dvynys Dvynys 07:17 07:02 96 112
valerian1967 07:21 06:40 90 105
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:22 06:51 92 108
martinede 07:28 09:02 120 141
frost 07:32 07:02 93 109
Andrew Whiffin 07:32 05:57 78 91
earlylight 07:33 07:09 94 110
banishspam 07:46 06:50 87 102
gsriordan52 07:56 07:23 93 109
ChrisBrea 07:58 06:50 85 100
John Arnold 07:58 07:28 93 109
pauliwan 08:01 09:14 115 135
chriswestontour 08:04 06:12 76 89
Corymbia Corymbia 08:06 06:10 76 89
TomHerbert 08:09 05:21 65 76
crosswordian 08:12 08:58 109 128
dec 08:14 05:36 68 80
mattindoha 08:15 05:35 67 78
DamienKnapma 08:19 08:13 98 115
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 08:21 06:25 76 89
Mike Mansbridge 08:22 06:34 78 91
sue.cresswell 08:25 06:16 74 87
plett11 Plett11 08:25 09:07 108 127
Templar Redux Templar 08:29 10:14 120 141
m5harp 08:29 08:47 103 121
nigelmzzz 08:30 09:25 110 129
timbo 08:31 08:06 95 111
johndun John Dunleavy 08:33 08:12 95 111
hookyt 08:35 08:34 99 116
richardCV22 08:36 06:10 71 83
goblin 08:38 07:31 87 102
TonyN6 08:46 06:52 78 91
barracuda barracuda 08:47 07:52 89 104
AndyLast 08:54 08:02 90 105
ulaca ulaca 08:55 05:51 65 76
john.brassey 09:03 08:29 93 109
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:10 06:31 71 83
vinyl12345 vinyl1 09:15 06:01 65 76
Nigel1953 09:16 06:18 67 78
Zabadak3 Zabadak 09:18 09:28 101 118
jemcd33 09:21 09:36 102 120
luxtonj61 09:24 07:38 81 95
Doyler 09:27 05:07 54 63
Bambersheila55 09:33 08:51 92 108
wwicksteed 09:46 07:38 78 91
edwards.robert1 09:50 08:52 90 105
alastair52 09:53 07:53 79 92
BertieVII 10:07 13:41 135 158
Jeeves 10:08 09:40 95 111
iholloway 10:10 09:56 97 114
Poff 10:16 07:42 75 88
Pendrov 10:30 09:42 92 108
suethepotterer 11:13 07:57 70 82
Dr. Memory 11:18 11:45 103 121
annikins 11:18 07:22 65 76
hipponym 11:26 06:43 58 68
paul.verney 11:28 09:05 79 92
Dofray 11:35 11:59 103 121
MichaelE 11:38 07:37 65 76
starstruck starstruck_au 11:46 09:18 79 92
home.bright 11:56 11:13 93 109
youngbaz 11:57 08:16 69 81
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:58 09:06 76 89
simjt simjt 12:00 11:44 97 114
SMSEsq 12:01 10:47 89 104
tyrotim tyrotim 12:10 12:20 101 118
flashman flashman 12:18 11:30 93 109
ifincham2 12:19 09:13 74 87
alistair.boere 12:33 07:00 55 64
chabuduo chabuduo 13:20 10:38 79 92
ezoredfox 13:33 08:32 62 72
Xebeq 14:13 09:54 69 81
Corbo 14:13 10:57 77 90
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:52 13:45 92 108
Leon Steed 15:02 11:35 77 90
Mendes 15:12 10:27 68 80
Dr. Venn 15:48 15:22 97 114
rlowin2 15:52 12:29 78 91
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 16:01 17:20 108 127
I like cheese 17:01 13:46 80 94
Masha 17:34 22:59 130 152
kfb20 18:58 09:42 51 60
TonyK 19:23 20:23 105 123
danielbluebisson 19:33 10:49 55 64
New Driver 20:19 15:32 76 89
Hazelnut 20:49 17:08 82 96
DaveH 20:56 11:57 57 67
pfalloon 21:15 13:59 65 76
The Real Steve Snackman 21:57 13:27 61 71
Geldart 22:13 23:50 107 125
paulmcl 22:36 76:14 337 396
david.14587 23:29 17:05 72 84
hod45pat 26:55 15:53 59 69
Pompeydave 27:07 12:47 47 55
mcfarl 40:48 42:58 105 123
deebeeem 42:59 09:21 21 24

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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