Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2352

Date 15 March 2023
Number 2352
Setter Mara
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 97
Count of ref solvers 71
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2352

* 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 02:07 96 98
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:26 98 101
Jason 02:32 02:28 97 100
verlaine 02:36 02:29 95 97
mistigris 02:40 02:47 104 107
hilarym 02:43 02:29 91 93
cmjhutton 02:44 02:36 95 97
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 02:39 94 96
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 02:37 72 74
richard 03:39 03:52 105 108
markdobell 03:50 05:01 130 134
Heyesey 03:52 03:11 82 84
Strober 04:04 03:19 81 83
lickert 04:11 04:17 102 105
chindit 04:13 03:57 93 95
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:38 85 87
AlanS 04:19 04:15 98 101
MikeOsborne 04:21 04:23 100 103
Roscoe 04:26 04:51 109 112
lucyg43484 04:30 03:57 87 89
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 03:47 82 84
John Walsh 04:37 05:36 121 124
d.middleton 04:39 03:48 81 83
scrabbler 04:39 05:12 111 114
andrewlake 04:44 03:17 69 71
wwalker50 04:45 04:17 90 92
canismiser 04:45 05:50 122 125
andy 04:46 04:12 88 90
March 04:46 04:48 100 103
alexh 04:47 04:38 96 98
Dofray 04:48 03:51 80 82
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:48 05:14 109 112
Ed freshpot 04:50 04:33 94 96
Ease This Jam 04:50 04:23 90 92
MK76 04:53 03:40 75 77
Honggui 04:54 04:32 92 94
Umpire 04:54 05:06 104 107
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 05:03 99 102
Squallaby 05:09 04:23 85 87
Liari 05:09 04:14 82 84
neilr neilr 05:10 04:48 92 94
Tibthorpe 05:12 04:50 92 94
footballblue 05:17 05:26 102 105
Penfold_61 05:18 05:06 96 98
Aly Duncan 05:21 07:17 136 140
esmeralda 05:23 05:18 98 101
fshephe 05:25 05:31 101 104
ChuckB 05:26 06:06 112 115
jimpen 05:26 05:15 96 98
Spanna 05:27 06:22 116 119
george.plumbly 05:28 04:32 82 84
KET 05:29 05:17 96 98
mw7000 05:29 07:29 136 140
AndyR 05:36 06:29 115 118
Finzi 05:39 05:56 105 108
Shabbo 05:46 04:27 77 79
Looch 05:48 05:17 91 93
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 05:51 06:24 109 112
cath23 05:52 04:33 77 79
Tommo87 05:53 06:12 105 108
cmcnsmith 05:56 06:48 114 117
Colin2355 06:02 04:47 79 81
DunPangolin 06:03 06:26 106 109
PGooden 06:03 06:22 105 108
RobR RobR 06:03 05:05 84 86
Tudds 06:05 05:26 89 91
Rosron 06:07 05:28 89 91
GMcD 06:08 06:21 103 106
Curarist 06:12 04:59 80 82
Mike Mansbridge 06:24 04:45 74 76
paul.whitehouse69 06:25 07:08 111 114
Mike Harper Mike Harper 06:32 05:49 89 91
Dvynys Dvynys 06:37 07:35 114 117
Jeeves 06:40 06:40 100 103
alastair52 06:43 05:46 85 87
maisiemae 06:45 06:16 92 94
Puzzleplease 06:46 06:33 96 98
endafk 06:48 06:50 100 103
raincloud 06:49 07:24 108 111
Edprof 06:49 06:53 100 103
Corymbia Corymbia 06:57 05:15 75 77
ratterz 07:00 06:42 95 97
Yatton50 07:02 06:47 96 98
benedick 07:04 06:51 96 98
barracuda barracuda 07:08 06:15 87 89
Sheen 07:21 06:48 92 94
crosswordian 07:46 06:44 86 88
TomHerbert 07:52 07:34 96 98
jaraab 07:54 06:24 81 83

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.