Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2629

Date 21 March 2024
Number 2629
Setter Jalna
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 85
Count of ref solvers 78
Ref solvers excluded with errors 2
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2629

* 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 02:08 01:43 80 94
Paul Gilbert 02:28 01:47 72 84
Jason 02:35 02:28 95 111
cmjhutton 02:41 02:04 77 90
hilarym 02:48 02:53 102 120
aphis99 aphis99 02:48 02:45 98 115
verlaine 02:51 03:02 106 124
Flimmy flammy 03:02 02:31 82 96
Heyesey 03:36 02:33 70 82
markdobell 03:40 03:09 85 100
richard 03:41 02:55 79 92
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:43 03:31 94 110
SimonAnthony 03:51 03:12 83 97
glheard 04:01 03:08 78 91
scrabbler 04:03 04:41 115 135
chindit 04:06 05:08 125 147
lickert 04:08 04:00 96 112
Kinghedger 04:11 04:06 98 115
Strober 04:21 04:12 96 112
Golvellius 04:26 03:07 70 82
Umpire 04:26 02:59 67 78
MikeOsborne 04:31 03:29 77 90
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:31 03:34 78 91
tiggis 04:31 03:55 86 101
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:31 04:36 101 118
Roscoe 04:31 02:45 60 70
alexh 04:37 04:42 101 118
tilbee 04:37 03:22 72 84
denislaw 04:40 05:07 109 128
AlanS 04:42 04:07 87 102
chriss 04:45 04:08 87 102
lucyg43484 04:51 03:54 80 94
Honggui 04:51 05:23 110 129
andy 04:51 04:14 87 102
Paul Bacon 04:55 05:00 101 118
Ed freshpot 04:57 03:59 80 94
March 04:58 03:57 79 92
andrewlake 04:59 03:42 74 87
LouWeed LouWeed 05:00 03:25 68 80
Eddddddd 05:04 05:21 105 123
andy_knott 05:11 06:05 117 137
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:14 03:59 76 89
Zander 05:15 04:29 85 100
ChuckB 05:17 04:35 86 101
daulbs 05:21 03:43 69 81
Tibthorpe 05:22 05:29 102 120
Spanna 05:22 06:29 120 141
fshephe 05:22 03:49 71 83
Squallaby 05:24 05:15 97 114
footballblue 05:24 04:43 87 102
KET 05:33 06:04 109 128
nina s 05:34 05:20 95 111
neilr neilr 05:35 04:15 76 89
Finzi 05:41 05:41 100 117
Looch 05:47 04:07 71 83
Rabbitoh 05:50 03:51 66 77
Rosron 05:54 06:26 109 128
LuckOfLucien 05:56 07:22 124 145
Dzhigit 05:57 07:34 127 149
esmeralda 05:57 06:09 103 121
MrChumley MrChumley 05:58 06:09 103 121
McBeak McBeak 05:59 04:32 75 88
GeorgeTz 05:59 05:37 93 109
mw7000 06:03 05:32 91 107
mcrossib1 06:06 04:54 80 94
Shabbo 06:06 06:39 109 128
Tudds 06:14 06:07 98 115
Adrian Cobb 06:17 10:41 170 200
GMcD 06:17 07:43 122 143
Viscomte 06:31 07:29 114 134
hopkinb hopkinb 06:33 05:43 87 102
ilan 06:33 07:29 114 134
Curarist 06:34 06:40 101 118
uvofiz 06:34 04:58 75 88
robinh 06:40 06:05 91 107
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:40 03:15 48 56
Julian Forbes 06:41 07:53 117 137
paul.whitehouse69 06:43 05:58 88 103
PGooden 06:47 08:10 120 141
tds 06:49 06:40 97 114
jon 06:50 05:30 80 94
James P 06:54 06:47 98 115
julian_w 07:00 05:08 73 85
Riche Riche 07:05 06:55 97 114
benedick 07:12 07:04 98 115
Puzzleplease 07:20 07:23 100 117
Pxspxs 07:20 06:08 83 97
DianeRS 07:22 07:39 103 121
Dvynys Dvynys 07:23 07:08 96 112
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:27 05:28 73 85
1234 07:37 08:08 106 124
earlylight 07:40 07:55 103 121
chriswestontour 07:41 05:58 77 90
Edprof 07:48 07:50 100 117
docg 07:49 07:08 91 107
martinede 07:51 08:27 107 125
gsriordan52 07:52 08:52 112 131
ChrisBrea 07:58 07:33 94 110
dec 07:59 08:12 102 120
Corymbia Corymbia 08:02 06:46 84 98
TomHerbert 08:07 07:01 86 101
John Arnold 08:09 09:41 118 138
crosswordian 08:10 06:49 83 97
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 08:14 07:11 87 102
mattindoha 08:17 11:38 140 164
nigelmzzz 08:21 08:00 95 111
Templar Redux Templar 08:25 09:44 115 135
sue.cresswell 08:28 07:03 83 97
plett11 Plett11 08:29 07:08 84 98
goblin 08:34 07:13 84 98
richardCV22 08:37 07:59 92 108
nigel 08:37 07:04 82 96
johndun John Dunleavy 08:38 06:21 73 85
timbo 08:41 05:57 68 80
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:48 07:17 82 96
barracuda barracuda 08:48 08:08 92 108
Claverton74 08:51 07:10 80 94
john.brassey 08:52 08:31 96 112
TonyN6 08:53 11:56 134 157
vefatica vefatica 08:58 08:55 99 116
OldSolver 09:01 07:34 83 97
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:03 06:29 71 83
vinyl12345 vinyl1 09:07 06:41 73 85
Zabadak3 Zabadak 09:13 08:42 94 110
Doyler 09:17 07:15 78 91
crucihacker 09:18 07:47 83 97
hookyt 09:19 11:58 128 150
Mudge 09:37 08:49 91 107
wwicksteed 09:41 11:01 113 132
hemantyd 09:47 06:41 68 80
CWM65 09:49 08:41 88 103
Jeeves 09:54 08:47 88 103
maisiemae 10:00 13:59 139 163
iholloway 10:05 06:34 65 76
Birdingbob 10:15 08:58 87 102
Pendrov 10:40 13:36 127 149
hipponym 10:56 07:10 65 76
paul.verney 11:19 13:37 120 141
Dr. Memory 11:22 13:44 120 141
starstruck starstruck_au 11:32 09:23 81 95
home.bright 11:38 11:13 96 112
simjt simjt 11:48 08:00 67 78
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 09:37 81 95
Monkos 11:58 07:27 62 72
Dofray 12:00 10:52 90 105
Rhys 12:05 12:36 104 122
tyrotim tyrotim 12:11 13:29 110 129
flashman flashman 12:28 16:43 134 157
chabuduo chabuduo 12:38 10:11 80 94
ezoredfox 13:14 08:17 62 72
Xebeq 14:07 09:47 69 81
Corbo 14:11 15:25 108 127
Winchelt 14:17 15:26 108 127
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:41 11:07 75 88
Mendes 14:47 11:19 76 89
Leon Steed 14:53 11:23 76 89
Dr. Venn 14:57 10:18 68 80
rlowin2 15:02 11:34 76 89
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 15:37 12:07 77 90
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:45 11:40 74 87
phatman 16:13 08:27 52 61
kfb20 16:55 13:36 80 94
pfalloon 19:04 10:08 53 62
TonyK 19:20 17:45 91 107
DaveH 19:43 15:16 77 90
New Driver 20:19 15:58 78 91
keithandginnybirrell 21:30 14:25 67 78
The Real Steve Snackman 21:34 15:05 69 81
Geldart 22:15 21:40 97 114
dominic.c-b 23:15 36:15 155 182
paulmcl 24:49 07:27 30 35
Pompeydave 26:53 37:44 140 164
domski 27:03 13:52 51 60
edschrono 34:39 41:06 118 138
mcfarl 39:56 37:29 93 109

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.

Stored SNITCH Values

Here are the SNITCH values (stored on the day) from the crossword.

Loading...
Loading...
Back