Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2639

Date 02 April 2024
Number 2639
Setter Izetti
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 101
Count of ref solvers 78
Ref solvers excluded with errors 7
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2639

* 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 02:01 94 93
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:57 119 117
Jason 02:35 02:21 90 89
mistigris 02:39 02:26 91 90
cmjhutton 02:41 02:39 98 97
aphis99 aphis99 02:48 02:52 102 100
hilarym 02:48 02:34 91 90
Flimmy flammy 03:02 02:58 97 96
Heyesey 03:36 03:59 110 108
markdobell 03:40 03:26 93 92
richard 03:41 03:22 91 90
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:43 07:17 195 193
SimonAnthony 03:51 05:32 143 141
scrabbler 04:03 04:20 106 104
chindit 04:06 04:33 110 108
lickert 04:08 04:27 107 105
Kinghedger 04:11 05:02 120 118
Strober 04:21 03:42 85 84
Golvellius 04:26 04:35 103 101
Umpire 04:26 05:37 126 124
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:31 03:14 71 70
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:31 04:23 97 96
MikeOsborne 04:31 03:41 81 80
Roscoe 04:31 04:23 97 96
alexh 04:37 06:22 137 135
canismiser 04:40 04:33 97 96
denislaw 04:40 09:29 203 200
Jim Willis 04:42 04:56 104 102
MK76 04:42 05:18 112 110
Liari 04:42 06:10 131 129
AlanS 04:42 04:58 105 103
chriss 04:45 04:22 91 90
andy 04:51 05:30 113 111
Ed freshpot 04:57 04:10 84 83
Johninterred 04:57 05:06 103 101
March 04:58 04:17 86 85
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:58 05:19 107 105
andrewlake 04:59 04:30 90 89
LouWeed LouWeed 05:00 04:00 80 79
Eddddddd 05:04 08:48 173 171
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:14 05:58 114 112
ChuckB 05:17 05:26 102 100
fshephe 05:22 05:21 99 98
Squallaby 05:24 03:52 71 70
footballblue 05:24 06:38 122 120
KET 05:33 05:41 102 100
nina s 05:34 08:31 152 150
neilr neilr 05:35 05:12 93 92
Finzi 05:41 05:07 90 89
Looch 05:47 06:57 120 118
stguest2 05:48 10:09 175 173
Rabbitoh 05:50 06:20 108 106
Encota 05:56 05:09 86 85
Dzhigit 05:57 05:47 97 96
Freemers 06:03 06:53 113 111
Crossiant 06:03 06:14 103 101
mw7000 06:03 05:58 98 97
mcrossib1 06:06 05:59 98 97
Shabbo 06:06 06:33 107 105
RobR RobR 06:06 08:55 146 144
Carol 06:09 06:32 106 104
Tudds 06:14 06:58 111 109
GMcD 06:17 06:49 108 106
JMbrow29 06:28 07:37 117 115
ilan 06:33 06:01 91 90
hopkinb hopkinb 06:33 06:55 105 103
Curarist 06:34 04:33 69 68
robinh 06:40 04:51 72 71
PGooden 06:47 05:08 75 74
tds 06:49 08:29 124 122
jon 06:50 09:57 145 143
James P 06:54 11:30 166 164
Gussie 07:09 09:37 134 132
Nangle 07:16 10:47 148 146
Puzzleplease 07:20 09:33 130 128
DianeRS 07:22 06:15 84 83
SlumdogEngineer 07:26 13:24 180 178
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:27 13:23 179 177
Andrew Whiffin 07:29 08:27 112 110
robertbridge 07:29 09:41 129 127
1234 07:37 08:37 113 111
earlylight 07:40 07:41 100 99
frost 07:45 09:30 122 120
endafk 07:46 07:24 95 94
Edprof 07:48 09:54 126 124
gsriordan52 07:52 07:17 92 91
ChrisBrea 07:58 07:22 92 91
TomHerbert 08:07 09:23 115 113
John Arnold 08:09 07:56 97 96
crosswordian 08:10 11:40 142 140
Cuppa378 08:13 11:42 142 140
pc54 08:15 08:31 103 101
mattindoha 08:17 17:50 215 212
nigelmzzz 08:21 05:09 61 60
m5harp 08:22 09:38 115 113
Templar Redux Templar 08:25 07:45 92 91
plett11 Plett11 08:29 07:14 85 84
DamienKnapma 08:33 08:35 100 99
goblin 08:34 08:34 100 99
richardCV22 08:37 11:32 133 131
johndun John Dunleavy 08:38 11:51 137 135
Sheen 08:39 09:37 111 109
Dr_Bob 08:47 09:41 110 108
barracuda barracuda 08:48 09:45 110 108
ulaca ulaca 08:58 07:54 88 87
kath 09:01 07:16 80 79
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:03 07:53 87 86
vinyl12345 vinyl1 09:07 08:36 94 93
Nigel1953 09:07 08:26 92 91
luxtonj61 09:13 12:25 134 132
Zabadak3 Zabadak 09:13 09:41 105 103
jemcd33 09:16 08:50 95 94
crucihacker 09:18 10:18 110 108
hookyt 09:19 15:08 162 160
Laputan 09:28 09:52 104 102
Mudge 09:37 10:55 113 111
edwards.robert1 09:44 10:14 105 103
FelicityTT 09:47 11:37 118 116
CWM65 09:49 09:41 98 97
Pauline Minter 09:50 12:48 130 128
Jeeves 09:54 10:53 109 107
BertieVII 09:56 08:02 80 79
alastair52 10:03 15:57 158 156
iholloway 10:05 10:26 103 101
Destime 10:06 12:00 118 116
Chimblet Lyle 10:09 12:55 127 125
nishadamri nishadamri 10:14 09:50 96 95
Birdingbob 10:15 10:03 98 97
annikins 10:39 08:49 82 81
hipponym 10:56 11:52 108 106
jackk.larg 11:04 13:35 122 120
MichaelE 11:28 09:57 86 85
Cryptique 11:29 14:31 126 124
home.bright 11:38 15:33 133 131
youngbaz 11:47 08:21 70 69
simjt simjt 11:48 12:25 105 103
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 11:27 96 95
Romulus66 12:05 13:12 109 107
flashman flashman 12:28 18:00 144 142
alistair.boere 12:43 15:14 119 117
ezoredfox 13:14 26:04 196 194
Nuck_the_king 13:19 17:03 128 126
Sonofjim 13:32 20:09 148 146
Xebeq 14:07 19:20 136 134
Corbo 14:11 17:49 125 123
Mendes 14:47 15:44 106 104
phatman 16:13 21:40 133 131
kfb20 16:55 17:13 101 100
intentional rounding 18:04 26:43 147 145
maryht 18:54 25:06 132 130
pfalloon 19:04 17:36 92 91
Jean in Oxford 19:44 19:38 99 98
Hazelnut 20:38 28:53 139 137
keithandginnybirrell 21:30 33:17 154 152
The Real Steve Snackman 21:34 41:12 191 189
paulmcl 24:49 21:09 85 84
dan_tman 25:04 26:05 104 102
Pompeydave 26:53 20:52 77 76
ian.shepherd 27:33 24:01 87 86
mcfarl 39:56 40:20 101 100

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