Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2653

Date 18 April 2024
Number 2653
Setter Felix
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 76
Count of ref solvers 77
Ref solvers excluded with errors 13
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2653

* 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 01:34 73 96
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:02 82 107
Jason 02:35 01:56 74 97
mistigris 02:39 02:22 89 117
cmjhutton 02:41 01:58 73 96
aphis99 aphis99 02:48 02:26 86 113
hilarym 02:48 02:24 85 111
verlaine 02:51 02:43 95 125
Flimmy flammy 03:02 02:35 85 111
Heyesey 03:36 02:48 77 101
markdobell 03:40 03:35 97 127
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:43 03:28 93 122
glheard 04:01 03:01 75 98
chindit 04:06 03:09 76 100
lickert 04:08 04:31 109 143
Kinghedger 04:11 03:09 75 98
Strober 04:21 04:52 111 146
chriswords 04:30 04:24 97 127
tiggis 04:31 04:44 104 136
Roscoe 04:31 04:23 97 127
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:31 03:28 76 100
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:31 03:53 85 111
MikeOsborne 04:31 02:32 56 73
John Walsh 04:37 04:24 95 125
tilbee 04:37 02:54 62 81
alexh 04:37 03:07 67 88
canismiser 04:40 03:07 66 86
MK76 04:42 02:54 61 80
AlanS 04:42 04:05 86 113
chriss 04:45 05:17 111 146
lucyg43484 04:51 03:25 70 92
Ed freshpot 04:57 03:56 79 103
Johninterred 04:57 05:48 117 153
March 04:58 03:44 75 98
andrewlake 04:59 04:29 89 117
LouWeed LouWeed 05:00 03:54 78 102
Dekkers 05:12 05:41 109 143
Zander 05:15 03:53 73 96
ChuckB 05:17 04:38 87 114
Penfold_61 05:19 04:13 79 103
daulbs 05:21 02:52 53 69
fshephe 05:22 03:57 73 96
Tibthorpe 05:22 04:38 86 113
Aly Duncan 05:27 04:17 78 102
KET 05:33 02:47 50 65
nina s 05:34 04:14 76 100
neilr neilr 05:35 03:59 71 93
Finzi 05:41 04:55 86 113
Rabbitoh 05:50 04:20 74 97
Encota 05:56 04:39 78 102
Dzhigit 05:57 06:01 101 132
esmeralda 05:57 07:55 133 175
mw7000 06:03 04:25 73 96
Freemers 06:03 05:53 97 127
cmcnsmith 06:03 05:15 86 113
Crossiant 06:03 05:13 86 113
Tudds 06:14 05:23 86 113
GMcD 06:17 04:16 67 88
jimwetzler 06:21 05:47 91 119
Viscomte 06:31 06:05 93 122
uvofiz 06:34 05:54 89 117
robinh 06:40 05:41 85 111
paul.whitehouse69 06:43 06:02 89 117
PGooden 06:47 05:18 78 102
KenD51 07:01 07:26 105 138
Gussie 07:09 05:56 82 107
rhi.andrew 07:14 06:46 93 122
Pxspxs 07:20 05:20 72 94
Puzzleplease 07:20 06:08 83 109
Dvynys Dvynys 07:23 05:26 73 96
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:27 09:00 120 157
banishspam 07:33 07:24 98 128
1234 07:37 07:49 102 134
earlylight 07:40 06:41 87 114
chriswestontour 07:41 04:39 60 78
docg 07:49 07:20 93 122
gsriordan52 07:52 07:01 89 117
ChrisBrea 07:58 08:24 105 138
dec 07:59 06:22 79 103
jaraab 08:00 07:45 96 126
TomHerbert 08:07 06:47 83 109
John Arnold 08:09 06:54 84 110
crosswordian 08:10 07:06 86 113
Cuppa378 08:13 05:52 71 93
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 08:14 08:15 100 131
pc54 08:15 08:03 97 127
mattindoha 08:17 08:40 104 136
hazyfantazee 08:19 06:42 80 105
nigelmzzz 08:21 06:02 72 94
Templar Redux Templar 08:25 09:30 112 147
DamienKnapma 08:33 05:05 59 77
goblin 08:34 08:04 94 123
richardCV22 08:37 06:43 77 101
johndun John Dunleavy 08:38 05:52 67 88
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:48 07:02 79 103
barracuda barracuda 08:48 09:20 106 139
john.brassey 08:52 09:09 103 135
TonyN6 08:53 07:59 89 117
vefatica vefatica 08:58 08:03 89 117
ulaca ulaca 08:58 05:17 58 76
OldSolver 09:01 07:25 82 107
kath 09:01 09:54 109 143
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:03 06:13 68 89
vinyl12345 vinyl1 09:07 06:17 68 89
Zabadak3 Zabadak 09:13 11:58 129 169
luxtonj61 09:13 08:32 92 121
jemcd33 09:16 09:17 100 131
Doyler 09:17 06:24 68 89
hookyt 09:19 06:48 72 94
raincloud 09:21 04:56 52 68
ryjones114 09:23 04:52 51 67
Laputan 09:28 07:50 82 107
Mudge 09:37 05:58 62 81
smalley552 09:38 07:33 78 102
wwicksteed 09:41 06:30 67 88
CoxBurglar 09:41 07:31 77 101
edwards.robert1 09:44 08:11 84 110
hemantyd 09:47 06:07 62 81
Jeeves 09:54 05:37 56 73
maisiemae 10:00 06:35 65 85
Birdingbob 10:15 07:53 76 100
annikins 10:39 08:59 84 110
Pendrov 10:40 08:54 83 109
hipponym 10:56 05:48 53 69
jackk.larg 11:04 07:28 67 88
MichaelE 11:28 08:03 70 92
starstruck starstruck_au 11:32 12:23 107 140
home.bright 11:38 15:47 135 177
youngbaz 11:47 10:09 86 113
simjt simjt 11:48 11:33 97 127
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 08:33 72 94
Dofray 12:00 08:25 70 92
Rhys 12:05 07:57 65 85
tyrotim tyrotim 12:11 12:32 102 134
flashman flashman 12:28 18:00 144 189
mpbthorpe 12:30 09:25 75 98
chabuduo chabuduo 12:38 12:55 102 134
alistair.boere 12:43 07:37 59 77
ezoredfox 13:14 05:21 40 52
Guy Hatton 14:20 15:59 111 146
phcbarnes 14:40 15:53 108 142
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:41 11:20 77 101
rlowin2 15:02 08:10 54 71
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:45 13:30 85 111
phatman 16:13 07:10 44 57
intentional rounding 18:04 11:30 63 82
danielbluebisson 18:35 09:22 50 65
pfalloon 19:04 06:13 32 42
TonyK 19:20 17:04 88 115
New Driver 20:19 20:57 103 135
Simon M 21:11 12:57 61 80
Geldart 22:15 28:55 129 169
david.14587 22:28 07:18 32 42
mozbadel mozbadel 22:39 17:47 78 102
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 23:37 51:52 219 288
david 25:56 13:41 52 68
hod45pat 26:18 18:25 70 92
Pompeydave 26:53 23:07 85 111
domski 27:03 17:35 65 85
deebeeem 37:14 11:02 29 38
mcfarl 39:56 34:40 86 113

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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