Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2826

Date 06 November 2024
Number 2826
Setter Trelawney
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 74
Count of ref solvers 78
Ref solvers excluded with errors 2
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2826

* 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 02:01 01:42 84 113
Paul Gilbert 02:27 02:04 84 113
cmjhutton 02:28 01:58 79 106
Jason 02:33 01:49 71 95
verlaine 02:34 02:01 78 105
hilarym 02:46 02:12 79 106
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:38 94 127
Flimmy flammy 03:21 02:05 62 83
Sheapey Sheapey 03:25 03:23 99 133
richard 03:30 03:26 98 132
markdobell 03:39 02:52 78 105
Heyesey 03:43 03:06 83 112
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:54 03:23 86 116
Ciolf 03:55 02:51 72 97
Kinghedger 03:59 02:31 63 85
Umpire 04:02 02:32 62 83
SimonAnthony 04:07 02:58 72 97
chindit 04:10 05:04 121 163
Roscoe 04:11 03:42 88 118
glheard 04:13 02:48 66 89
MikeOsborne 04:16 02:59 69 93
Glencairn 04:17 04:54 114 154
lickert 04:22 03:16 74 100
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:25 03:40 83 112
tilbee 04:27 03:02 68 91
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:30 03:37 80 108
canismiser 04:31 02:47 61 82
AlanS 04:31 02:53 63 85
John Walsh 04:34 03:49 83 112
lucyg43484 04:36 03:14 70 94
tiggis 04:37 04:07 89 120
MK76 04:38 02:30 53 71
andrewlake 04:42 03:20 70 94
toots 04:42 04:05 86 116
March 04:49 04:26 92 124
d.middleton 04:49 04:01 83 112
LouWeed LouWeed 04:49 03:46 78 105
andy 04:53 04:23 89 120
neilr neilr 04:55 04:58 101 136
Bluejacket 05:01 03:36 71 95
LuckOfLucien 05:04 03:51 75 101
scrabbler 05:05 03:37 71 95
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:05 03:18 64 86
Liari 05:07 03:15 63 85
chriswords 05:07 04:44 92 124
Tibthorpe 05:08 03:38 70 94
Ed freshpot 05:10 03:33 68 91
McBeakLives 05:14 03:02 57 77
Zander 05:14 04:05 78 105
Squallaby 05:15 04:57 94 127
ChuckB 05:16 05:16 100 135
Rabbitoh 05:16 03:27 65 87
fshephe 05:17 04:32 85 114
cdb_100 05:19 03:36 67 90
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:19 04:50 90 121
Aly Duncan 05:20 04:35 85 114
nina s 05:22 04:15 79 106
Penfold_61 05:35 04:28 80 108
MrChumley MrChumley 05:35 04:58 88 118
rrricharrrd 05:35 03:15 58 78
Looch 05:41 04:39 81 109
GeorgeTz 05:42 04:50 84 113
Encota 05:43 04:19 75 101
Finzi 05:44 04:30 78 105
Rosron 05:45 04:50 84 113
cmcnsmith 05:50 04:56 84 113
Streaky Bacon 05:51 04:55 84 113
RobR RobR 05:51 04:20 74 100
Freemers 05:55 07:41 129 174
mw7000 06:01 04:11 69 93
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:12 03:10 51 68
Curarist 06:14 03:39 58 78
chriswestontour 06:14 05:39 90 121
julian_w 06:15 03:44 59 79
Adrian Cobb 06:17 04:51 77 104
Tudds 06:17 05:14 83 112
Riche Riche 06:18 03:36 57 77
DunPangolin 06:19 04:40 73 98
Mike C 06:20 04:06 64 86
Dzhigit 06:21 04:05 64 86
PGooden 06:25 05:48 90 121
hopkinb hopkinb 06:26 03:12 49 66
jimwetzler 06:27 03:51 59 79
robinh 06:28 06:23 98 132
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:31 05:23 82 110
tom.healey 06:32 05:14 80 108
SlumdogEngineer 06:38 07:57 119 160
GMcD 06:39 04:21 65 87
ilan 06:39 05:35 83 112
Onelug 06:45 05:44 84 113
paul.whitehouse69 06:49 04:28 65 87
uvofiz 06:49 07:24 108 145
Puzzleplease 06:52 05:26 79 106
Nangle 06:55 05:20 77 104
valerian1967 07:00 06:03 86 116
Dvynys Dvynys 07:03 08:16 117 158
tds 07:04 05:04 71 95
andrewfeist96 07:04 04:38 65 87
Kalakuta72 07:05 04:02 56 75
hazyfantazee 07:08 05:15 73 98
KenD51 07:10 06:16 87 117
banishspam 07:10 05:58 83 112
adamhanley71 07:17 04:27 61 82
Corymbia Corymbia 07:20 05:22 73 98
martinede 07:23 05:49 78 105
janesa 07:27 05:32 74 100
1234 07:28 05:17 70 94
DamienKnapma 07:36 04:38 60 81
mjsaunders9 07:41 04:55 63 85
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:48 06:55 88 118
wwicksteed 08:01 04:16 53 71
ulaca ulaca 08:06 04:37 56 75
John Arnold 08:06 06:35 81 109
plett11 Plett11 08:06 04:17 52 70
timbo 08:08 05:53 72 97
endafk 08:10 06:45 82 110
johndun John Dunleavy 08:10 07:36 93 125
Templar Redux Templar 08:13 06:12 75 101
TomHerbert 08:13 08:47 106 143
Zabadak3 Zabadak 08:15 06:27 78 105
nigelmzzz 08:19 06:50 82 110
mattindoha 08:23 05:22 64 86
john.brassey 08:26 06:56 82 110
richardCV22 08:31 09:02 106 143
vefatica vefatica 08:40 05:23 62 83
goblin 08:40 08:01 92 124
luxtonj61 08:41 05:43 65 87
raincloud 08:42 05:55 68 91
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:45 08:01 91 122
gsriordan52 08:46 07:47 88 118
dr.shred 08:51 06:13 70 94
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:53 06:52 77 104
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:03 06:36 72 97
smalley552 09:04 05:13 57 77
Poff 09:20 05:55 63 85
piltdown man 09:26 05:29 58 78
barracuda barracuda 09:26 05:16 55 74
Cryptique 09:39 08:57 92 124
Calculator001 09:41 05:53 60 81
Pendrov 09:58 10:04 101 136
Birdingbob 10:13 06:31 63 85
annikins 10:15 06:34 64 86
TonyN6 10:17 08:16 80 108
russellcannon 10:26 05:41 54 72
home.bright 10:30 05:21 50 67
Word Psmith 10:43 08:38 80 108
Nuck_the_king 10:47 02:06 19 25
albrecht1959 10:59 07:02 64 86
horners1974 11:09 07:43 69 93
simjt simjt 11:22 06:17 55 74
Dr. Memory 11:37 11:47 101 136
crucihacker 11:40 06:06 52 70
phatman 12:23 08:55 72 97
martinr486 12:28 08:34 68 91
intentional rounding 12:28 06:18 50 67
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:33 09:35 76 102
chabuduo chabuduo 12:42 06:24 50 67
flashman flashman 12:59 10:00 77 104
rlowin2 13:09 10:09 77 104
Corbo 13:51 13:17 95 128
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:13 09:18 65 87
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:13 22:42 159 214
Guy Hatton 14:55 08:31 57 77
RPE10538 RPE10538 15:18 09:52 64 86
The Real Steve Snackman 15:23 07:04 45 60
Xebeq 16:18 08:13 50 67
Steve Wood 16:29 12:59 78 105
thechan 16:45 09:18 55 74
david.14587 18:26 06:51 37 50
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 18:43 13:25 71 95
TonyK 18:49 15:24 81 109
New Driver 18:58 14:00 73 98
paulmcl 20:20 14:50 72 97
StrikeDeep 20:27 09:19 45 60
pfalloon 20:37 05:53 28 37
ian.shepherd 21:37 14:43 68 91
maryht 22:15 19:30 87 117
dominic.c-b 23:33 12:05 51 68
pamelalewis51 24:28 16:31 67 90
youngbaz 24:29 08:05 33 44
mcfarl 44:51 30:19 67 90

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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