Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2680

Date 20 May 2024
Number 2680
Setter Mara
Day of week Monday
NITCH 94
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 5
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2680

* 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 02:04 02:13 107 113
Paul Gilbert 02:27 02:01 82 87
mistigris 02:41 02:45 102 108
aphis99 aphis99 02:43 02:48 103 109
mauefw 02:44 02:33 93 98
hilarym 02:47 03:03 109 115
Flimmy flammy 03:01 04:23 145 154
markdobell 03:36 03:06 86 91
Heyesey 03:37 02:39 73 77
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:52 03:38 93 98
glheard 03:58 03:23 85 90
SimonAnthony 03:58 03:36 90 95
chindit 04:02 03:48 94 100
lickert 04:06 06:18 153 162
Kinghedger 04:10 06:01 144 153
Umpire 04:18 02:42 62 65
scrabbler 04:18 04:48 111 118
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:22 03:53 88 93
MikeOsborne 04:26 04:14 95 101
Strober 04:30 04:30 100 106
tiggis 04:32 04:52 107 113
canismiser 04:32 04:14 93 98
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:34 05:00 109 115
tilbee 04:36 04:15 92 97
MK76 04:39 03:53 83 88
alexh 04:40 05:21 114 121
denislaw 04:46 03:38 76 80
andy 04:47 04:31 94 100
lucyg43484 04:48 05:00 104 110
chriss 04:51 04:14 87 92
andrewlake 04:53 06:02 123 130
Ed freshpot 04:54 04:19 88 93
LouWeed LouWeed 04:57 04:36 92 97
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:57 04:09 83 88
Johninterred 04:59 04:58 99 105
Eddddddd 05:08 06:55 134 142
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:09 05:17 102 108
daulbs 05:09 04:27 86 91
fshephe 05:12 03:09 60 63
Tibthorpe 05:12 05:10 99 105
ChuckB 05:17 04:49 91 96
cdb_100 05:18 05:37 105 111
Penfold_61 05:21 04:39 86 91
neilr neilr 05:28 05:26 99 105
KET 05:31 05:55 107 113
Finzi 05:38 05:50 103 109
Looch 05:42 06:02 105 111
fishernick79 05:43 04:59 87 92
Rabbitoh 05:44 04:01 70 74
Aly Duncan 05:46 04:05 70 74
Shabbo 05:48 05:45 99 105
nina s 05:50 08:16 141 150
mw7000 05:52 07:34 128 136
Encota 05:53 06:11 105 111
esmeralda 05:58 07:06 118 125
Crossiant 06:00 05:36 93 98
Carol 06:02 06:07 101 107
Dzhigit 06:03 05:53 97 103
RobR RobR 06:17 08:20 132 140
GMcD 06:17 06:28 102 108
Aloysius 06:17 04:39 74 78
hopkinb hopkinb 06:21 09:15 145 154
uvofiz 06:25 06:12 96 102
jimwetzler 06:25 07:30 116 123
Tudds 06:25 06:09 95 101
Curarist 06:26 07:12 111 118
paul.whitehouse69 06:32 08:14 126 134
ilan 06:35 05:44 87 92
PGooden 06:39 05:09 77 81
jon 06:46 07:37 112 119
James P 06:46 05:35 82 87
julian_w 06:47 07:58 117 124
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:48 05:30 80 85
Gussie 06:57 07:56 114 121
Kalakuta72 06:59 06:17 89 94
Pxspxs 07:01 07:03 100 106
Obrador 07:01 09:11 130 138
DianeRS 07:02 10:10 144 153
KenD51 07:07 07:56 111 118
rhi.andrew 07:09 04:39 65 69
tds 07:10 07:34 105 111
chriswestontour 07:12 08:38 119 126
Julian Forbes 07:15 07:07 98 104
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:24 05:35 75 79
banishspam 07:31 07:27 99 105
ChrisBrea 07:40 09:21 121 128
endafk 07:46 11:11 143 152
gsriordan52 07:47 07:03 90 95
TomHerbert 07:49 06:58 89 94
dec 07:52 07:15 92 97
nigelmzzz 07:54 05:55 74 78
CrystalPip 07:57 09:01 113 120
GMB 07:57 08:22 105 111
frost 07:59 07:39 95 101
John Arnold 08:02 15:01 186 197
Templar Redux Templar 08:07 06:51 84 89
plett11 Plett11 08:22 06:39 79 84
richardCV22 08:23 08:48 104 110
Cuppa378 08:26 06:32 77 81
DamienKnapma 08:28 08:35 101 107
Dr_Bob 08:30 08:24 98 104
crucihacker 08:34 09:47 114 121
johndun John Dunleavy 08:34 09:29 110 117
mattindoha 08:38 07:07 82 87
goblin 08:38 09:20 108 114
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:43 09:06 104 110
john.brassey 08:47 09:22 106 112
vefatica vefatica 08:48 12:42 144 153
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:48 15:36 177 188
barracuda barracuda 08:52 08:24 94 100
ulaca ulaca 08:56 09:39 108 114
TonyN6 08:57 07:35 84 89
kath 09:00 08:20 92 97
Zabadak3 Zabadak 09:00 07:50 87 92
Yatton50 09:19 10:47 115 122
luxtonj61 09:23 08:55 95 101
Bambersheila55 09:24 10:20 109 115
smalley552 09:25 10:37 112 119
Mudge 09:26 12:55 136 144
dr.shred 09:29 16:27 173 184
Laputan 09:29 08:48 92 97
CoxBurglar 09:30 08:59 94 100
edwards.robert1 09:31 08:57 94 100
Jeeves 09:35 08:24 87 92
CWM65 09:35 10:07 105 111
hipponym 09:36 13:22 139 147
hemantyd 09:38 08:54 92 97
BertieVII 09:55 10:44 108 114
Poff 09:56 16:13 163 173
Birdingbob 10:03 07:12 71 75
Pauline Minter 10:05 09:52 97 103
starstruck starstruck_au 11:14 10:44 95 101
jackk.larg 11:15 13:34 120 127
Cryptique 11:21 06:34 57 60
maisiemae 11:27 08:27 73 77
paul.verney 11:34 12:56 111 118
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:37 10:51 93 98
simjt simjt 11:38 13:08 112 119
SlowSteady 11:41 16:35 141 150
ifincham2 11:57 10:31 88 93
potter_al 12:11 10:38 87 92
tyrotim tyrotim 12:17 12:47 104 110
Rhys 12:19 12:49 104 110
kapietro kapietro 12:28 11:52 95 101
mpbthorpe 12:30 09:08 73 77
chabuduo chabuduo 12:55 17:03 132 140
flashman flashman 12:58 13:47 106 112
albrecht1959 13:13 08:57 67 71
alistair.boere 13:25 06:17 46 48
julzov 13:54 09:19 67 71
jarenstein 14:09 10:02 70 74
rlowin2 14:21 17:16 120 127
Mendes 14:33 14:59 102 108
phcbarnes 14:34 17:03 117 124
intentional rounding 16:29 07:56 48 51
Masha 18:05 19:08 105 111
pfalloon 18:13 10:02 55 58
The Real Steve Snackman 20:19 18:43 92 97
Hazelnut 20:44 19:32 94 100
deebeeem 21:15 11:04 52 55
Geldart 22:19 25:17 113 120
danielbluebisson 22:34 16:53 74 78
winelover 23:55 18:08 75 79
domski 24:15 23:09 95 101
ian.shepherd 26:39 27:24 102 108
Pompeydave 28:04 26:48 95 101
shankar 29:07 25:04 86 91
Sotogrande1 34:29 58:05 168 178
mcfarl 41:07 38:02 92 97

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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