Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2354

Date 17 March 2023
Number 2354
Setter Des
Day of week Friday
NITCH 111
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2354

* 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 02:37 119 107
Paul Gilbert 02:28 03:28 140 126
Jason 02:32 02:31 99 89
verlaine 02:36 02:45 105 94
mistigris 02:40 02:59 111 100
hilarym 02:43 03:04 112 100
cmjhutton 02:44 02:56 107 96
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 03:16 115 103
Flimmy flammy 03:04 02:54 94 84
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 04:23 120 108
richard 03:39 04:23 120 108
markdobell 03:50 04:18 112 100
Strober 04:04 03:38 89 80
lickert 04:11 04:11 100 90
chindit 04:13 04:21 103 92
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:45 88 79
AlanS 04:19 05:54 136 122
MikeOsborne 04:21 03:59 91 81
tilbee 04:21 04:47 109 98
tiggis 04:29 04:51 108 97
lucyg43484 04:30 07:05 157 141
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 05:39 122 109
scrabbler 04:39 04:18 92 82
andrewlake 04:44 04:46 100 90
wwalker50 04:45 06:22 134 120
andy 04:46 04:37 96 86
March 04:46 05:05 106 95
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 04:24 92 82
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:48 05:49 121 109
Ed freshpot 04:50 05:00 103 92
Honggui 04:54 04:36 93 83
michaelbell53 04:58 05:59 120 108
Zander 05:02 05:36 111 100
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 05:20 104 93
Liari 05:09 04:57 96 86
Squallaby 05:09 07:24 143 128
Paul Bacon 05:09 05:49 112 100
annbrew 05:11 05:33 107 96
Tibthorpe 05:12 05:05 97 87
andy_knott 05:13 05:34 106 95
Penfold_61 05:18 06:45 127 114
esmeralda 05:23 05:30 102 91
jimpen 05:26 06:17 115 103
george.plumbly 05:28 04:26 81 72
KET 05:29 06:57 126 113
Rabbitoh 05:32 05:55 106 95
AndyR 05:36 06:07 109 98
Finzi 05:39 06:08 108 97
Shabbo 05:46 05:58 103 92
Looch 05:48 06:00 103 92
squark 05:50 06:48 116 104
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 05:51 05:59 102 91
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 06:18 107 96
cath23 05:52 06:00 102 91
SlumdogEngineer 05:54 06:01 101 90
Carol 05:56 04:59 83 74
PGooden 06:03 05:39 93 83
DunPangolin 06:03 06:16 103 92
RobR RobR 06:03 06:54 114 102
Tudds 06:05 07:45 127 114
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:05 09:01 148 133
Rosron 06:07 08:13 134 120
GMcD 06:08 07:42 125 112
earlylight 06:09 07:38 124 111
ilan 06:17 07:03 112 100
James P 06:18 06:25 101 90
robinh 06:19 06:42 106 95
Michael Dove 06:23 06:44 105 94
Mike Mansbridge 06:24 07:59 124 111
uvofiz 06:30 06:52 105 94
Mike Harper Mike Harper 06:32 07:52 120 108
Gussie 06:35 06:44 102 91
Dvynys Dvynys 06:37 07:54 119 107
DianeRS 06:46 06:21 93 83
endafk 06:48 07:42 113 101
plett11 Plett11 06:48 07:50 115 103
Edprof 06:49 08:18 121 109
FraserH 06:56 08:14 118 106
Corymbia Corymbia 06:57 06:58 100 90
Bobby D 06:58 07:50 112 100
barracuda barracuda 07:08 08:48 123 110
m5harp 07:15 07:04 97 87
gsriordan52 07:20 07:05 96 86
luxtonj61 07:21 08:51 120 108
crosswordian 07:46 07:33 97 87
TomHerbert 07:52 07:18 92 82
iholloway 08:28 08:40 102 91

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.