Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2345

Date 06 March 2023
Number 2345
Setter Orpheus
Day of week Monday
NITCH 83
Count of ref solvers 75
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2345

* 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 02:11 01:56 88 106
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:30 101 121
Jason 02:32 01:27 57 68
verlaine 02:36 02:01 77 92
mistigris 02:40 01:57 73 87
hilarym 02:43 02:09 79 95
cmjhutton 02:44 03:08 114 137
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 02:25 85 102
Flimmy flammy 03:04 03:04 100 120
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 02:58 81 97
richard 03:39 03:00 82 98
markdobell 03:50 04:07 107 128
Heyesey 03:52 03:02 78 93
glheard 04:02 02:57 73 87
Strober 04:04 03:07 76 91
lickert 04:11 03:11 76 91
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:09 74 89
chriswords 04:14 05:02 118 142
AlanS 04:19 03:15 75 90
MikeOsborne 04:21 03:15 74 89
tilbee 04:21 03:30 80 96
tiggis 04:29 03:28 77 92
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 03:59 86 103
d.middleton 04:39 04:44 101 121
scrabbler 04:39 05:17 113 136
andrewlake 04:44 03:24 71 85
canismiser 04:45 04:39 97 116
wwalker50 04:45 05:12 109 131
andy 04:46 02:43 56 67
March 04:46 04:30 94 113
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 03:46 79 95
alexh 04:47 05:36 117 140
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:48 02:53 60 72
Ed freshpot 04:50 03:16 67 80
Ease This Jam 04:50 03:17 67 80
MK76 04:53 03:43 76 91
Honggui 04:54 03:47 77 92
Umpire 04:54 05:50 119 143
michaelbell53 04:58 05:15 105 126
Zander 05:02 03:29 69 83
Squallaby 05:09 04:28 86 103
Paul Bacon 05:09 04:16 82 98
Liari 05:09 05:47 112 134
neilr neilr 05:10 04:10 80 96
annbrew 05:11 04:34 88 106
Tibthorpe 05:12 04:30 86 103
footballblue 05:17 04:43 89 107
Penfold_61 05:18 04:24 83 100
Aly Duncan 05:21 04:12 78 93
esmeralda 05:23 04:30 83 100
fshephe 05:25 04:01 74 89
jimpen 05:26 04:09 76 91
ChuckB 05:26 04:51 89 107
george.plumbly 05:28 05:30 100 120
mw7000 05:29 04:15 77 92
KET 05:29 05:31 100 120
Rabbitoh 05:32 03:58 71 85
Eddddddd 05:34 03:52 69 83
Mendes 05:34 05:34 100 120
Finzi 05:39 03:33 62 74
Julian Forbes 05:45 05:46 100 120
Shabbo 05:46 04:40 80 96
Looch 05:48 04:49 83 100
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 05:51 03:50 65 78
cath23 05:52 04:42 80 96
Carol 05:56 05:32 93 112
GeorgeTz 05:56 04:46 80 96
nigel 06:00 05:46 96 115
Crossiant 06:01 04:42 78 93
DunPangolin 06:03 05:14 86 103
Tudds 06:05 04:47 78 93
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:05 05:11 85 102
Rosron 06:07 04:36 75 90
GMcD 06:08 05:10 84 101
earlylight 06:09 04:37 75 90
Curarist 06:12 04:39 75 90
jimwetzler 06:16 05:10 82 98
James P 06:18 05:46 91 109
robinh 06:19 04:33 72 86
Mike Harper Mike Harper 06:32 04:52 74 89
Gussie 06:35 06:00 91 109
Dvynys Dvynys 06:37 04:29 67 80
alastair52 06:43 05:49 86 103
Puzzleplease 06:46 04:49 71 85
1234 06:48 04:36 67 80
endafk 06:48 04:53 71 85
Edprof 06:49 05:19 77 92
timbo 06:51 03:15 47 56
Andrew Whiffin 07:25 05:53 79 95
vinyl12345 vinyl1 07:53 05:34 70 84
TonyN6 07:59 05:30 68 81

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.