Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3112

Date 06 October 2025
Number 3112
Setter Pipsqueak
Day of week Monday
NITCH 89
Count of ref solvers 74
Ref solvers excluded with errors 14
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3112

* 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 01:43 85 95
Paul Gilbert 02:08 01:50 85 95
cmjhutton 02:14 01:41 75 84
lili 02:14 02:12 98 110
verlaine 02:36 02:20 89 100
Magoo 02:41 02:30 93 104
Jason 02:42 02:07 78 87
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:06 75 84
hilarym 02:51 02:48 98 110
Flimmy flammy 03:17 02:32 77 86
HoneyBadger 03:17 02:22 72 80
Ciolf 03:26 03:10 92 103
markdobell 03:28 03:12 92 103
Amoeba89 03:30 03:59 113 126
Heyesey 03:33 03:10 89 100
richard 03:34 02:17 64 71
SimonAnthony 03:54 02:58 76 85
AlanS 03:55 03:54 99 111
Kinghedger 03:57 03:52 97 108
glheard 04:03 03:20 82 92
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:05 03:43 91 102
fshephe 04:18 03:07 72 80
lickert 04:22 04:14 96 107
EricK 04:22 04:39 106 119
JayEm 04:34 03:09 68 76
tilbee 04:35 03:54 85 95
chindit 04:37 03:55 84 94
lucyg43484 04:40 02:34 55 61
Jon Delfin 04:40 03:49 81 91
andrewlake 04:41 04:56 105 117
Ed freshpot 04:44 06:56 146 164
cdb_100 04:44 03:59 84 94
alexh 04:45 04:03 85 95
canismiser 04:46 04:53 102 114
March 04:48 05:31 114 128
scrabbler 04:48 05:03 105 117
neilr neilr 04:51 04:00 82 92
rrricharrrd 04:51 04:51 100 112
Aybee 04:56 04:29 90 101
Paul Bacon 04:57 04:12 84 94
Zander 05:01 06:17 125 140
LouWeed LouWeed 05:03 04:00 79 88
Tibthorpe 05:05 05:16 103 115
Squallaby 05:06 04:21 85 95
Johninterred 05:07 05:08 100 112
ChuckB 05:07 05:29 107 120
Vannyx 05:08 06:07 119 133
whichcraft 05:16 05:02 95 106
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 05:03 95 106
Encota 05:26 05:31 101 113
Rabbitoh galspray 05:27 04:47 87 97
mcrossib1 05:30 04:58 90 101
Finzi 05:38 04:20 76 85
andrewfeist96 05:46 06:21 110 123
dr.shred dr.shred 05:48 06:15 107 120
Carol 05:49 06:03 104 116
Looch 05:50 04:55 84 94
Anomalospiza 05:52 04:00 68 76
Onelug 05:57 06:18 105 117
hopkinb hopkinb 05:57 07:48 131 147
KET 05:58 06:20 106 119
julian_w 06:02 06:13 103 115
Tudds 06:03 05:26 89 100
Shabbo 06:08 05:30 89 100
PGooden 06:08 05:28 89 100
Curarist 06:14 04:45 76 85
paul.whitehouse69 06:15 06:26 102 114
Rosron 06:20 05:15 82 92
Adrian Cobb 06:27 07:42 119 133
James P 06:28 05:19 82 92
Aldus 06:32 05:56 90 101
jimwetzler 06:32 05:21 81 91
Kalakuta72 06:34 06:56 105 117
GMcD 06:35 06:13 94 105
uvofiz 06:45 05:17 78 87
ilan 06:51 07:38 111 124
mjsaunders9 06:53 05:38 81 91
Nangle 06:59 06:27 92 103
Mudge 07:04 09:10 129 144
DamienKnapma 07:07 07:06 99 111
robinh 07:20 06:46 92 103
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:20 07:40 104 116
Doyler 07:23 07:04 95 106
smalley552 07:25 04:41 63 70
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:26 05:30 73 82
Gussie 07:29 07:58 106 119
Dvynys Dvynys 07:35 06:23 84 94
ChrisBrea 07:37 07:18 95 106
robertL 07:47 05:32 71 79
Templar Redux Templar 07:48 05:59 76 85
ulaca ulaca 07:51 09:42 123 138
plett11 Plett11 07:53 05:55 75 84
MichelinPoitiers 07:57 07:13 90 101
johndun John Dunleavy 08:02 07:52 97 108
OldSolver 08:06 07:25 91 102
jemcd33 08:15 08:32 103 115
hemantyd 08:17 07:39 92 103
Mike Mansbridge 08:27 04:22 51 57
goblin 08:30 08:34 100 112
Jeeves 08:32 07:00 82 92
mattindoha 08:32 08:30 99 111
Peloton 08:41 09:00 103 115
gsriordan52 08:41 07:21 84 94
mich_punk 08:44 07:53 90 101
Troothful 08:49 07:05 80 89
crosswordian 08:51 10:54 123 138
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:52 07:11 81 91
nigelmzzz 08:52 07:52 88 98
vefatica vefatica 08:56 10:11 113 126
kath 08:59 08:35 95 106
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:05 08:47 96 107
vinyl12345 vinyl1 09:09 12:19 134 150
Kernowdoc 09:11 11:49 128 143
barracuda barracuda 09:17 13:52 149 167
starstruck starstruck_au 09:29 12:04 127 142
Edprof 09:50 09:57 101 113
Married Admirer 10:17 09:03 88 98
Alias Noble 10:25 13:31 129 144
The Real Steve Snackman 10:30 09:51 93 104
rlowin2 10:37 14:24 135 151
Captain Burnaby 10:53 11:31 105 117
simjt simjt 10:58 09:36 87 97
maisiemae 11:04 12:16 110 123
chabuduo chabuduo 11:15 11:14 99 111
Cedric Statherby 11:15 12:12 108 121
TonyN6 11:19 09:54 87 97
alistair.boere 12:02 11:12 93 104
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:02 18:21 152 170
Chrisa9 12:02 09:53 82 92
martinr486 12:19 09:29 76 85
Sonofjim 12:24 16:12 130 146
mpbthorpe 12:31 21:30 171 192
youngbaz 12:36 09:47 77 86
suethepotterer 12:40 17:57 141 158
Steve Wood 12:46 09:47 76 85
Mark from Ipswich 13:15 11:18 85 95
Muckypuppy 13:47 07:14 52 58
danielbluebisson Blue92 13:58 11:07 79 88
kfb20 14:39 12:37 86 96
pfalloon 15:10 07:26 49 55
james 15:18 13:20 87 97
tomtom2 18:30 13:06 70 78
maryht 23:03 17:11 74 83
Tomov 28:17 15:05 53 59
revolting tonic 35:58 31:00 86 96
andybry andybry 37:31 24:25 65 73
crossworder 47:40 29:00 60 67

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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