Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2476

Date 05 September 2023
Number 2476
Setter Jalna
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 92
Count of ref solvers 67
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2476

* 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 01:54 87 94
Paul Gilbert 02:28 03:22 136 147
Jason 02:32 02:01 79 85
verlaine 02:36 02:20 89 96
mistigris 02:40 02:22 88 95
hilarym 02:43 02:31 92 100
cmjhutton 02:44 02:36 95 103
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 02:43 96 104
Flimmy flammy 03:04 03:27 112 121
richard 03:39 03:19 90 97
markdobell 03:50 03:12 83 90
Heyesey 03:52 03:04 79 85
Kinghedger 03:52 03:48 98 106
chriss 04:01 03:32 87 94
glheard 04:02 03:12 79 85
Strober 04:04 03:37 88 95
lickert 04:11 03:26 82 89
chindit 04:13 04:05 96 104
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 03:56 92 100
nina s 04:19 02:26 56 60
AlanS 04:19 04:51 112 121
PaulCooke 04:19 03:30 81 88
MikeOsborne 04:21 04:28 102 110
tiggis 04:29 04:15 94 102
trux 04:29 05:12 115 125
lucyg43484 04:30 06:16 139 151
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 03:56 85 92
canismiser 04:45 04:02 84 91
andy 04:46 04:32 95 103
March 04:46 04:23 91 98
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 04:30 94 102
alexh 04:47 03:59 83 90
MK76 04:53 05:36 114 123
Umpire 04:54 02:42 55 59
Johninterred 04:54 04:16 87 94
Zander 05:02 04:50 96 104
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 04:18 84 91
Squallaby 05:09 04:04 78 84
Liari 05:09 03:42 71 77
Paul Bacon 05:09 04:57 96 104
neilr neilr 05:10 05:40 109 118
annbrew 05:11 06:15 120 130
Tibthorpe 05:12 05:41 109 118
andy_knott 05:13 05:45 110 119
footballblue 05:17 05:45 108 117
Aly Duncan 05:21 03:54 72 78
esmeralda 05:23 06:30 120 130
fshephe 05:25 04:50 89 96
daulbs 05:26 03:49 70 76
ChuckB 05:26 04:18 79 85
george.plumbly 05:28 05:39 103 111
mw7000 05:29 05:13 95 103
Dekkers 05:31 04:39 84 91
Rabbitoh 05:32 04:22 78 84
Eddddddd 05:34 05:37 100 108
Finzi 05:39 05:51 103 111
Shabbo 05:46 04:51 84 91
Looch 05:48 06:36 113 122
cheryllayne cheryllayne 05:50 06:18 108 117
cath23 05:52 03:03 51 55
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 05:46 98 106
Carol 05:56 06:18 106 115
McBeak McBeak 06:00 04:07 68 73
nigel 06:00 05:58 99 107
Crossiant 06:01 05:12 86 93
DunPangolin 06:03 04:51 80 86
PGooden 06:03 06:22 105 114
Tudds 06:05 05:00 82 89
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:05 05:12 85 92
Blackbeard 06:11 06:26 104 113
ilan 06:17 06:13 98 106
James P 06:18 04:38 73 79
JMbrow29 06:19 05:07 81 88
robinh 06:19 06:00 94 102
paul.whitehouse69 06:25 04:43 73 79
chrismarch 06:27 05:19 82 89
uvofiz 06:30 05:58 91 98
Gussie 06:35 06:37 100 108
robertbridge 06:38 06:26 96 104
smalley552 06:42 05:33 82 89
Kalakuta72 06:45 05:38 83 90
endafk 06:48 06:30 95 103
Viscomte 06:51 05:55 86 93
Corymbia Corymbia 06:57 06:25 92 100
ratterz 07:00 06:41 95 103
barracuda barracuda 07:08 05:58 83 90
Doyler 07:15 05:40 78 84
Cryptique 07:17 06:41 91 98
johndun John Dunleavy 07:17 05:27 74 80
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 16:37 28:29 171 185

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.