Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3110

Date 03 October 2025
Number 3110
Setter Joker
Day of week Friday
NITCH 99
Count of ref solvers 77
Ref solvers excluded with errors 4
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3110

* 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 01:48 89 89
Paul Gilbert 02:08 02:15 105 106
cmjhutton 02:14 02:27 109 110
lili 02:14 02:21 105 106
verlaine 02:36 02:30 96 96
mistigris 02:40 02:22 88 88
Magoo 02:41 03:46 140 141
Jason 02:42 02:42 100 101
hilarym 02:51 03:08 109 110
Flimmy flammy 03:17 02:48 85 85
HoneyBadger 03:17 02:37 79 79
Ciolf 03:26 03:39 106 107
markdobell 03:28 03:10 91 91
Amoeba89 03:30 04:10 119 120
Heyesey 03:33 03:34 100 101
richard 03:34 03:30 98 98
Deane Short 03:50 03:23 88 88
SimonAnthony 03:54 03:22 86 86
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:05 03:32 86 86
Bluejacket 04:12 04:43 112 113
MikeOsborne 04:14 06:17 148 149
fshephe 04:18 03:12 74 74
lickert 04:22 03:37 82 82
EricK 04:22 04:29 102 103
tilbee 04:35 04:31 98 98
MK76 04:36 05:57 129 130
chindit 04:37 04:07 89 89
tiggis 04:39 08:38 185 186
Jon Delfin 04:40 03:15 69 69
andrewlake 04:41 03:32 75 75
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 05:15 111 112
Ed freshpot 04:44 05:10 109 110
cdb_100 04:44 04:54 103 104
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:45 04:34 96 96
alexh 04:45 05:58 125 126
canismiser 04:46 04:15 89 89
March 04:48 04:43 98 98
scrabbler 04:48 05:16 109 110
neilr neilr 04:51 05:55 121 122
rrricharrrd 04:51 06:44 138 139
Liari 04:51 04:50 99 100
andy 04:51 05:40 116 117
d.middleton 04:53 05:08 105 106
Aybee 04:56 05:59 121 122
Zander 05:01 05:59 119 120
Tibthorpe 05:05 04:40 91 91
Squallaby 05:06 04:50 94 94
AndyKnott321 05:06 06:31 127 128
Johninterred 05:07 04:10 81 81
Vannyx 05:08 04:59 97 97
Riche Riche 05:15 06:17 119 120
whichcraft 05:16 07:40 145 146
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 04:36 86 86
nina s 05:20 04:55 92 92
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:21 06:13 116 117
Encota 05:26 04:06 75 75
Rabbitoh galspray 05:27 05:27 100 101
KarenR 05:29 06:51 124 125
chriswestontour 05:31 06:17 113 114
Finzi 05:38 06:01 106 107
Crossiant 05:43 05:34 97 97
andrewfeist96 05:46 06:14 108 109
Mike C 05:46 07:01 121 122
dr.shred dr.shred 05:48 04:24 75 75
Carol 05:49 04:57 85 85
Looch 05:50 04:17 73 73
Anomalospiza 05:52 06:22 108 109
hopkinb hopkinb 05:57 06:26 108 109
Tudds 06:03 05:44 94 94
PGooden 06:08 05:24 88 88
Shabbo 06:08 04:40 76 76
Dzhigit 06:10 05:40 91 91
Curarist 06:14 06:27 103 104
paul.whitehouse69 06:15 06:55 110 111
Rosron 06:20 05:44 90 90
Adrian Cobb 06:27 08:29 131 132
James P 06:28 08:15 127 128
joseffjones 06:30 09:26 145 146
jimwetzler 06:32 09:26 144 145
GMcD 06:35 09:00 136 137
valerian1967 06:38 06:23 96 96
jon 06:39 06:50 102 103
tds 06:43 08:35 127 128
uvofiz 06:45 06:02 89 89
KenD51 06:45 03:58 58 58
mjsaunders9 06:53 06:01 87 87
garsoli 06:58 19:30 279 281
Nangle 06:59 06:11 88 88
endafk 06:59 05:39 80 80
scut 07:02 07:17 103 104
Mudge 07:04 10:04 142 143
1234 07:10 08:42 121 122
Corymbia Corymbia 07:16 07:21 101 102
The Caffeine Kid 07:18 06:47 92 92
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:20 07:29 102 103
smalley552 07:25 06:13 83 83
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:26 11:55 160 161
robertL 07:47 07:22 94 94
Templar Redux Templar 07:48 07:42 98 98
ulaca ulaca 07:51 08:47 111 112
plett11 Plett11 07:53 07:52 99 100
raincloud 07:53 12:13 154 155
MichelinPoitiers 07:57 08:19 104 105
john.brassey 07:58 08:01 100 101
Sheen 08:02 08:21 103 104
johndun John Dunleavy 08:02 06:25 79 79
OldSolver 08:06 08:21 103 104
RPY 08:12 15:24 187 188
jaraab 08:17 08:52 107 108
alex.scordellis 08:19 10:02 120 121
Mike Mansbridge 08:27 06:45 79 79
goblin 08:30 08:31 100 101
intentional rounding 08:31 06:07 71 71
Jeeves 08:32 07:25 86 86
mattindoha 08:32 07:21 86 86
Peloton 08:41 08:39 99 100
m5harp 08:41 13:59 161 162
f4rch 08:42 08:41 99 100
nigelmzzz 08:52 06:28 72 72
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:52 07:52 88 88
vefatica vefatica 08:56 09:27 105 106
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:05 07:32 82 82
vinyl12345 vinyl1 09:09 10:06 110 111
Kernowdoc 09:11 07:44 84 84
Poff 09:11 09:58 108 109
barracuda barracuda 09:17 10:47 116 117
starstruck starstruck_au 09:29 10:14 107 108
alexngbr 09:31 10:33 110 111
Birdingbob 09:47 07:43 78 78
Alias Noble 10:25 08:27 81 81
rlowin2 10:37 14:06 132 133
LiamD 10:46 07:18 67 67
E Bradford E Bradford 10:50 10:24 96 96
simjt simjt 10:58 15:18 139 140
maisiemae 11:04 11:36 104 105
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 11:09 14:02 125 126
chabuduo chabuduo 11:15 11:38 103 104
Cedric Statherby 11:15 12:04 107 108
Richard the First 11:18 15:52 140 141
TonyN6 11:19 11:50 104 105
BertieVII 11:31 17:56 155 156
alistair.boere 12:02 11:55 99 100
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:02 18:28 153 154
kapietro kapietro 12:09 10:48 88 88
martinr486 12:19 07:17 59 59
youngbaz 12:36 14:08 112 113
suethepotterer 12:40 11:52 93 93
Steve Wood 12:46 13:32 106 107
Mark from Ipswich 13:15 10:27 78 78
Mendes Mendesest 13:36 16:55 124 125
Muckypuppy 13:47 10:33 76 76
kfb20 14:39 12:39 86 86
pfalloon 15:10 17:25 114 115
james 15:18 52:10 340 343
Guy Hatton 15:24 14:35 94 94
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:33 13:21 85 85
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 16:08 15:10 94 94
tomtom2 18:30 24:09 130 131
TonyK 18:36 16:15 87 87
Damien Grover 18:54 46:10 244 246
Flora Garden 24:20 25:05 103 104
paulmcl 25:13 26:12 103 104
jlloyd4424 26:36 13:26 50 50
shankar 29:43 26:59 90 90
andybry andybry 37:31 41:44 111 112
crossworder 47:40 64:05 134 135

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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