Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3106

Date 29 September 2025
Number 3106
Setter Alex
Day of week Monday
NITCH 81
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 7
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3106

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

 

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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 02:01 01:46 87 107
lili 02:14 01:59 88 108
verlaine 02:36 02:19 89 109
Magoo 02:41 02:15 83 102
Jason 02:42 01:48 66 81
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:01 72 88
hilarym 02:51 02:15 78 96
Flimmy flammy 03:17 02:14 68 83
HoneyBadger 03:17 02:14 68 83
Amoeba89 03:30 03:01 86 106
Heyesey 03:33 03:12 90 111
Deane Short 03:50 02:33 66 81
SimonAnthony 03:54 02:41 68 83
Kinghedger 03:57 03:00 75 92
glheard 04:03 03:38 89 109
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:05 03:33 86 106
Bluejacket 04:12 03:14 76 93
MikeOsborne 04:14 03:56 92 113
toots 04:17 04:12 98 120
fshephe 04:18 03:42 86 106
lickert 04:22 03:20 76 93
EricK 04:22 02:49 64 79
Morphosis 04:30 03:49 84 103
JayEm 04:34 03:24 74 91
tilbee 04:35 04:19 94 116
MK76 04:36 04:23 95 117
chindit 04:37 04:09 89 109
Jon Delfin 04:40 03:50 82 101
lucyg43484 04:40 03:20 71 87
andrewlake 04:41 04:35 97 119
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 03:34 75 92
Ed freshpot 04:44 03:17 69 85
cdb_100 04:44 03:43 78 96
benbush 04:44 05:14 110 135
alexh 04:45 03:23 71 87
CentralLine CentralLine 04:45 05:07 107 132
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:45 04:11 88 108
canismiser 04:46 04:51 101 124
scrabbler 04:48 03:49 79 97
March 04:48 04:12 87 107
rrricharrrd 04:51 03:49 78 96
andy 04:51 03:59 82 101
Aybee 04:56 04:02 81 100
Zander 05:01 04:16 85 104
LouWeed LouWeed 05:03 03:59 78 96
Tibthorpe 05:05 05:23 105 129
AndyKnott321 05:06 05:37 110 135
Squallaby 05:06 03:35 70 86
Johninterred 05:07 04:02 78 96
ChuckB 05:07 05:26 106 130
Vannyx 05:08 03:54 75 92
babka 05:14 05:25 103 127
Riche Riche 05:15 06:06 116 143
whichcraft 05:16 04:40 88 108
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 04:22 82 101
nina s 05:20 04:44 88 108
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:21 04:39 86 106
Encota 05:26 05:45 105 129
Rabbitoh galspray 05:27 05:03 92 113
cmcnsmith 05:28 06:27 117 144
KarenR 05:29 03:41 67 82
mcrossib1 05:30 05:52 106 130
chriswestontour 05:31 05:51 106 130
Finzi 05:38 05:58 105 129
Crossiant 05:43 04:45 83 102
Mike C 05:46 05:01 86 106
Carol 05:49 04:27 76 93
Looch 05:50 04:22 74 91
Anomalospiza 05:52 04:25 75 92
thewanderingeditor 05:56 04:50 81 100
hopkinb hopkinb 05:57 04:23 73 90
Onelug 05:57 05:43 96 118
KET 05:58 04:07 68 83
Tudds 06:03 06:50 112 138
PGooden 06:08 03:49 62 76
Curarist 06:14 05:32 88 108
paul.whitehouse69 06:15 06:38 106 130
Jamie Fox 06:25 06:34 102 125
Adrian Cobb 06:27 08:48 136 167
James P 06:28 05:55 91 112
jimwetzler 06:32 07:57 121 149
Aldus 06:32 06:29 99 122
GMcD 06:35 06:43 102 125
jon 06:39 06:17 94 116
janesa 06:40 07:10 107 132
uvofiz 06:45 05:08 76 93
mjsaunders9 06:53 05:17 76 93
Nangle 06:59 04:41 67 82
Obrador 07:03 04:40 66 81
Mudge 07:04 05:31 78 96
DamienKnapma 07:07 05:02 70 86
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:08 05:15 73 90
1234 07:10 06:17 87 107
Puzzleplease 07:10 05:27 76 93
The Caffeine Kid 07:18 05:56 81 100
robinh 07:20 06:56 94 116
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:20 07:41 104 128
Doyler 07:23 07:00 94 116
smalley552 07:25 08:39 116 143
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:26 06:22 85 104
Gussie 07:29 06:31 87 107
docg 07:31 09:02 120 148
ChrisBrea 07:37 07:45 101 124
Templar Redux Templar 07:48 07:43 98 120
ulaca ulaca 07:51 06:31 83 102
raincloud 07:53 06:02 76 93
plett11 Plett11 07:53 09:59 126 155
MichelinPoitiers 07:57 08:10 102 125
johndun John Dunleavy 08:02 06:53 85 104
OldSolver 08:06 06:37 81 100
John Arnold 08:12 06:37 80 98
jemcd33 08:15 07:51 95 117
hemantyd 08:17 07:02 84 103
jaraab 08:17 06:10 74 91
goblin 08:30 08:52 104 128
mattindoha 08:32 06:59 81 100
Jeeves 08:32 07:25 86 106
Peloton 08:41 05:39 65 80
m5harp 08:41 07:31 86 106
gsriordan52 08:41 05:04 58 71
JeffHobbs 08:47 06:32 74 91
crosswordian 08:51 07:13 81 100
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:52 08:03 90 111
nigelmzzz 08:52 06:49 76 93
piltdown man 08:56 08:34 95 117
vefatica vefatica 08:56 07:09 80 98
kath 08:59 07:04 78 96
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:05 05:54 64 79
Poff 09:11 09:37 104 128
barracuda barracuda 09:17 07:10 77 95
starstruck starstruck_au 09:29 09:44 102 125
Birdingbob 09:47 06:41 68 83
symbenall2 10:05 08:56 88 108
Alias Noble 10:25 07:12 69 85
The Real Steve Snackman 10:30 08:16 78 96
LiamD 10:46 10:12 94 116
E Bradford E Bradford 10:50 07:11 66 81
simjt simjt 10:58 07:58 72 88
maisiemae 11:04 10:03 90 111
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 11:09 06:51 61 75
paul.verney 11:14 13:10 117 144
Cedric Statherby 11:15 09:46 86 106
Pendrov 11:16 13:41 121 149
TonyN6 11:19 07:28 65 80
BertieVII 11:31 15:46 136 167
Chrisa9 12:02 14:12 118 145
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:02 09:17 77 95
alistair.boere 12:02 07:32 62 76
kapietro kapietro 12:09 11:45 96 118
martinr486 12:19 07:46 63 77
Sonofjim 12:24 10:28 84 103
mpbthorpe 12:31 13:37 108 133
Mark from Ipswich 13:15 12:06 91 112
Mendes Mendesest 13:36 16:52 124 153
Muckypuppy 13:47 11:08 80 98
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:28 13:16 91 112
kfb20 14:39 17:33 119 146
New Driver 14:47 11:54 80 98
anderson1965 14:56 13:56 93 114
pfalloon 15:10 17:29 115 141
Holly O 15:17 13:57 91 112
james 15:18 16:32 108 133
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:33 18:14 117 144
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:22 16:00 97 119
keithandginnybirrell 16:34 33:22 201 248
david 19:02 18:39 97 119
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 21:06 30:19 143 176
philby 23:01 23:14 100 123
Flora Garden 24:20 20:21 83 102
shankar 29:43 18:29 62 76
revolting tonic 35:58 37:26 104 128
andybry andybry 37:31 21:23 56 69
mcfarl 45:44 42:18 92 113
crossworder 47:40 39:30 82 101

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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