Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2836

Date 18 November 2024
Number 2836
Setter Teazel
Day of week Monday
NITCH 91
Count of ref solvers 81
Ref solvers excluded with errors 9
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2836

* 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
cmjhutton 02:28 02:53 116 127
Jason 02:33 02:00 78 85
verlaine 02:34 02:24 93 102
mistigris 02:40 02:40 100 109
hilarym 02:46 02:56 106 116
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:50 101 110
Flimmy flammy 03:21 02:37 78 85
Sheapey Sheapey 03:25 02:51 83 91
SGHanson 03:29 03:02 87 95
markdobell 03:39 03:04 84 92
michaelbell53 03:47 03:42 97 106
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:54 03:43 95 104
Ciolf 03:55 03:27 88 96
Kinghedger 03:59 04:06 102 112
SimonAnthony 04:07 03:18 80 87
chindit 04:10 03:32 84 92
Roscoe 04:11 03:56 94 103
glheard 04:13 04:02 95 104
MikeOsborne 04:16 04:53 114 125
Glencairn 04:17 04:50 112 123
lickert 04:22 03:18 75 82
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:25 04:27 100 109
tilbee 04:27 04:24 98 107
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:30 04:45 105 115
canismiser 04:31 03:54 86 94
Honggui 04:32 06:38 146 160
lucyg43484 04:36 05:09 111 121
MK76 04:38 05:23 116 127
andrewlake 04:42 03:15 69 75
toots 04:42 05:30 117 128
alexh 04:45 05:13 109 119
LouWeed LouWeed 04:49 04:48 99 108
March 04:49 04:13 87 95
wwalker50 04:51 04:18 88 96
andy 04:53 05:23 110 120
neilr neilr 04:55 05:08 104 114
Bluejacket 05:01 06:16 124 136
LuckOfLucien 05:04 06:23 125 137
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:05 05:55 116 127
scrabbler 05:05 04:03 79 86
Liari 05:07 05:07 100 109
Tibthorpe 05:08 05:19 103 113
Ed freshpot 05:10 04:04 78 85
McBeakLives 05:14 04:38 88 96
Squallaby 05:15 04:58 94 103
ChuckB 05:16 04:41 88 96
fshephe 05:17 06:06 115 126
cdb_100 05:19 03:44 70 76
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:19 04:08 77 84
esmeralda 05:25 05:04 93 102
rrricharrrd 05:35 04:10 74 81
Penfold_61 05:35 05:30 98 107
KarenR 05:36 06:13 111 121
pc54 05:39 09:47 173 190
footballblue 05:40 04:19 76 83
Looch 05:41 04:35 80 87
Finzi 05:44 04:40 81 89
JayEm 05:45 05:09 89 97
Streaky Bacon 05:51 04:44 80 87
RobR RobR 05:51 05:04 86 94
Freemers 05:55 03:23 57 62
mw7000 06:01 05:53 97 106
Shabbo 06:01 05:13 86 94
Adelaider 06:06 06:16 102 112
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:12 07:29 120 131
Curarist 06:14 05:23 86 94
SBQuick 06:17 05:32 88 96
Tudds 06:17 06:54 109 119
Adrian Cobb 06:17 05:19 84 92
Mike C 06:20 04:38 73 80
Dzhigit 06:21 04:55 77 84
PGooden 06:25 04:47 74 81
hopkinb hopkinb 06:26 04:28 69 75
robinh 06:28 06:55 106 116
jon 06:38 07:21 110 120
ilan 06:39 06:38 99 108
GMcD 06:39 06:01 90 98
Vannyx 06:42 06:45 100 109
James P 06:48 05:17 77 84
paul.whitehouse69 06:49 05:27 79 86
uvofiz 06:49 07:19 107 117
Puzzleplease 06:52 06:13 90 98
Nangle 06:55 06:44 97 106
FraserH 06:58 07:22 105 115
valerian1967 07:00 06:07 87 95
Dvynys Dvynys 07:03 06:32 92 101
nigel 07:05 05:52 82 90
Gussie 07:13 05:52 81 89
Corymbia Corymbia 07:20 06:21 86 94
Obrador 07:21 07:35 103 113
ChrisBrea 07:23 07:03 95 104
martinede 07:23 09:27 127 139
janesa 07:27 09:12 123 135
1234 07:28 07:06 95 104
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:31 08:41 115 126
DamienKnapma 07:36 13:29 177 194
mjsaunders9 07:41 111:57 1457 1601
ulaca ulaca 08:06 06:31 80 87
John Arnold 08:06 09:00 111 121
plett11 Plett11 08:06 10:47 133 146
endafk 08:10 04:43 57 62
johndun John Dunleavy 08:10 06:56 84 92
Aldus 08:12 07:02 85 93
Sheen 08:12 07:32 91 100
TomHerbert 08:13 06:49 82 90
Templar Redux Templar 08:13 12:27 151 165
Zabadak3 Zabadak 08:15 08:10 98 107
crosswordian 08:17 09:02 109 119
nigelmzzz 08:19 06:04 72 79
mattindoha 08:23 08:04 96 105
Dr_Bob 08:23 08:35 102 112
john.brassey 08:26 08:02 95 104
m5harp 08:33 08:52 103 113
cerds 08:35 10:55 127 139
vefatica vefatica 08:40 08:36 99 108
kath 08:40 09:06 105 115
goblin 08:40 07:20 84 92
Jeeves 08:43 09:23 107 117
Laputan 08:44 06:29 74 81
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:45 07:19 83 91
gsriordan52 08:46 09:37 109 119
edwards.robert1 08:49 09:10 103 113
dr.shred 08:51 08:46 99 108
Deezzaa Deezzaa 08:53 09:10 103 113
Nigel1953 08:56 07:22 82 90
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:03 11:30 127 139
CWM65 09:13 06:31 70 76
barracuda barracuda 09:26 06:27 68 74
steven j l 09:46 08:07 83 91
CoxBurglar 09:46 09:13 94 103
maisiemae 09:55 07:13 72 79
iholloway 10:12 07:56 77 84
Birdingbob 10:13 11:37 113 124
TonyN6 10:17 09:45 94 103
russellcannon 10:26 10:46 103 113
home.bright 10:30 16:01 152 167
Word Psmith 10:43 10:13 95 104
Chimblet Lyle 10:47 09:50 91 100
Nuck_the_king 10:47 08:03 74 81
simjt simjt 11:22 16:41 146 160
Dr. Memory 11:37 12:05 104 114
crucihacker 11:40 10:17 88 96
intentional rounding 12:28 10:39 85 93
martinr486 12:28 12:44 102 112
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:33 15:10 120 131
chabuduo chabuduo 12:42 08:28 66 72
flashman flashman 12:59 20:00 154 169
mich_punk 13:01 07:21 56 61
Sonofjim 13:06 13:58 106 116
rlowin2 13:09 13:57 106 116
kapietro kapietro 13:32 13:53 102 112
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:13 28:00 196 215
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:13 07:43 54 59
Mendes 15:07 12:39 83 91
RPE10538 RPE10538 15:18 24:11 158 173
The Real Steve Snackman 15:23 11:35 75 82
Dofray 15:35 20:34 131 143
trish_tang 15:47 17:27 110 120
kfb20 15:50 09:48 61 67
Xebeq 16:18 19:46 121 132
Steve Wood 16:29 18:01 109 119
tomtom2 17:35 19:53 113 124
david.14587 18:26 26:14 142 156
TonyK 18:49 19:23 103 113
New Driver 18:58 16:42 88 96
pfalloon 20:37 21:56 106 116
Hazelnut 20:48 17:23 83 91
Mark from Ipswich 21:12 20:11 95 104
maryht 22:15 21:54 98 107
Sotogrande1 27:38 25:00 90 98
lilias.allan 39:44 31:04 78 85
deebeeem 42:16 94:47 224 246
mcfarl 44:51 39:42 88 96

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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