Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2820

Date 30 October 2024
Number 2820
Setter Jimmy
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 83
Count of ref solvers 77
Ref solvers excluded with errors 3
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2820

* 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
Paul Gilbert 02:27 02:20 95 114
cmjhutton 02:28 01:52 75 90
Jason 02:33 02:07 83 100
verlaine 02:34 02:18 89 107
mistigris 02:40 02:31 94 113
hilarym 02:46 02:35 93 112
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:19 83 100
Flimmy flammy 03:21 03:47 112 134
Sheapey Sheapey 03:25 02:41 78 93
SGHanson 03:29 03:14 92 110
markdobell 03:39 03:29 95 114
Heyesey 03:43 03:15 87 104
Ciolf 03:55 04:08 105 126
Kinghedger 03:59 03:08 78 93
Umpire 04:02 03:00 74 89
Jim Willis 04:04 04:06 100 120
SimonAnthony 04:07 03:17 79 95
chindit 04:10 04:41 112 134
glheard 04:13 02:43 64 77
MikeOsborne 04:16 02:46 64 77
lickert 04:22 03:38 83 100
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:25 05:07 115 138
tilbee 04:27 04:53 109 131
Morphosis 04:28 05:25 121 145
AlanS 04:31 04:01 88 106
canismiser 04:31 04:36 101 121
lucyg43484 04:36 03:31 76 91
MK76 04:38 04:35 98 118
toots 04:42 03:44 79 95
andrewlake 04:42 03:35 76 91
alexh 04:45 04:50 101 121
LouWeed LouWeed 04:49 03:42 76 91
March 04:49 04:00 83 100
andy 04:53 04:34 93 112
CentralLine CentralLine 04:53 05:18 108 130
neilr neilr 04:55 05:27 110 132
Eddddddd 05:01 04:28 89 107
Bluejacket 05:01 04:39 92 110
LuckOfLucien 05:04 04:34 90 108
scrabbler 05:05 03:40 72 86
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:05 05:51 115 138
Liari 05:07 04:10 81 97
Tibthorpe 05:08 05:10 100 120
Ed freshpot 05:10 04:10 80 96
McBeakLives 05:14 03:50 73 87
Zander 05:14 04:38 88 106
Squallaby 05:15 04:36 87 104
Rabbitoh 05:16 04:23 83 100
ChuckB 05:16 04:51 92 110
fshephe 05:17 04:20 82 98
cdb_100 05:19 03:55 73 87
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:19 03:58 74 89
AndyKnott321 05:21 06:08 114 137
nina s 05:22 04:37 86 103
esmeralda 05:25 04:50 89 107
rrricharrrd 05:35 05:10 92 110
Penfold_61 05:35 03:58 71 85
Looch 05:41 04:14 74 89
denislaw 05:43 04:40 81 97
Encota 05:43 04:53 85 102
Finzi 05:44 04:42 81 97
JayEm 05:45 03:58 68 81
cmcnsmith 05:50 05:42 97 116
Streaky Bacon 05:51 05:22 91 109
Freemers 05:55 03:47 63 75
Carol 05:58 05:40 94 113
Shabbo 06:01 05:10 85 102
Adelaider 06:06 04:24 72 86
Curarist 06:14 05:24 86 103
Adrian Cobb 06:17 06:07 97 116
Tudds 06:17 05:11 82 98
SBQuick 06:17 05:07 81 97
Riche Riche 06:18 05:56 94 113
DunPangolin 06:19 05:33 87 104
Dzhigit 06:21 05:02 79 95
PGooden 06:25 05:14 81 97
hopkinb hopkinb 06:26 04:30 69 83
jimwetzler 06:27 05:02 78 93
robinh 06:28 06:50 105 126
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:31 05:14 80 96
SlumdogEngineer 06:38 06:33 98 118
ilan 06:39 05:27 81 97
GMcD 06:39 04:45 71 85
Vannyx 06:42 05:47 86 103
Onelug 06:45 05:13 77 92
James P 06:48 05:42 83 100
uvofiz 06:49 05:37 82 98
paul.whitehouse69 06:49 08:20 122 146
Puzzleplease 06:52 08:38 125 150
DianeRS 06:56 05:29 79 95
FraserH 06:58 06:18 90 108
valerian1967 07:00 04:43 67 80
Dvynys Dvynys 07:03 05:41 80 96
tds 07:04 06:47 95 114
andrewfeist96 07:04 04:53 69 83
Kalakuta72 07:05 06:09 86 103
banishspam 07:10 08:32 119 143
KenD51 07:10 06:39 92 110
adamhanley71 07:17 10:46 147 177
Corymbia Corymbia 07:20 07:07 97 116
ChrisBrea 07:23 06:11 83 100
janesa 07:27 07:16 97 116
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:31 05:19 70 84
DamienKnapma 07:36 07:03 92 110
CrystalPip 07:44 07:26 96 115
drginacoco 07:48 07:28 95 114
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:48 07:53 101 121
John Arnold 08:06 11:56 147 177
plett11 Plett11 08:06 06:21 78 93
timbo 08:08 07:20 90 108
endafk 08:10 05:16 64 77
johndun John Dunleavy 08:10 07:01 85 102
Sheen 08:12 07:52 95 114
Templar Redux Templar 08:13 07:32 91 109
TomHerbert 08:13 07:18 88 106
Zabadak3 Zabadak 08:15 07:27 90 108
nigelmzzz 08:19 09:32 114 137
mattindoha 08:23 07:35 90 108
john.brassey 08:26 08:46 103 124
richardCV22 08:31 07:10 84 101
cerds 08:35 07:45 90 108
vefatica vefatica 08:40 06:58 80 96
goblin 08:40 04:25 50 60
luxtonj61 08:41 08:10 94 113
raincloud 08:42 06:49 78 93
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:45 07:10 81 97
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:53 07:02 79 95
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:03 08:50 97 116
Doyler 09:03 05:42 62 74
smalley552 09:04 05:58 65 78
GMB 09:05 10:53 119 143
Rosey6 09:17 07:59 85 102
piltdown man 09:26 10:28 110 132
barracuda barracuda 09:26 08:46 92 110
maisiemae 09:55 06:16 63 75
Pendrov 09:58 10:13 102 122
hemantyd 09:59 10:20 103 124
RPY 10:09 06:11 60 72
Birdingbob 10:13 08:16 80 96
TonyN6 10:17 07:26 72 86
russellcannon 10:26 09:32 91 109
SlowSteady 10:35 07:39 72 86
Word Psmith 10:43 07:36 70 84
Troothful 10:47 05:19 49 59
BertieVII 11:22 14:31 127 153
simjt simjt 11:22 08:43 76 91
E Bradford 11:29 07:33 65 78
Dr. Memory 11:37 19:40 169 203
jarenstein 11:39 09:21 80 96
crucihacker 11:40 07:25 63 75
Rammy Trainor 12:01 10:54 90 108
alistair.boere 12:10 18:31 152 183
phatman 12:23 05:21 43 51
martinr486 12:28 09:51 79 95
tyrotim tyrotim 12:30 09:32 76 91
mpbthorpe 12:31 11:27 91 109
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:33 09:28 75 90
chabuduo chabuduo 12:42 12:17 96 115
ifincham2 12:49 14:34 113 136
flashman flashman 12:59 14:00 107 128
rlowin2 13:09 11:54 90 108
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:13 16:08 113 136
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:13 12:13 85 102
Guy Hatton 14:55 13:27 90 108
Mendes 15:07 10:38 70 84
Jax74 15:08 24:45 163 196
RPE10538 RPE10538 15:18 18:16 119 143
The Real Steve Snackman 15:23 11:35 75 90
kfb20 15:50 14:23 90 108
Xebeq 16:18 13:37 83 100
Steve Wood 16:29 14:02 85 102
thechan 16:45 18:58 113 136
david.14587 18:26 14:38 79 95
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 18:43 14:47 78 93
TonyK 18:49 13:49 73 87
New Driver 18:58 09:38 50 60
paulmcl 20:20 08:50 43 51
pfalloon 20:37 12:34 60 72
danielbluebisson 20:54 10:27 50 60
Mark from Ipswich 21:12 20:43 97 116
philby 21:45 22:27 103 124
maryht 22:15 19:55 89 107
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 22:59 30:54 134 161
pamelalewis51 24:28 23:04 94 113
youngbaz 24:29 10:06 41 49
prognosticat 27:27 23:44 86 103

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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