Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2894

Date 24 January 2025
Number 2894
Setter Oink
Day of week Friday
NITCH 73
Count of ref solvers 76
Ref solvers excluded with errors 13
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2894

* 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 02:02 01:38 80 109
cmjhutton 02:24 02:04 86 117
Paul Gilbert 02:29 02:24 96 131
verlaine 02:36 02:33 98 134
Jason 02:39 02:02 76 104
hilarym 02:46 02:13 80 109
mistigris 02:47 03:07 111 152
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 03:08 109 149
Flimmy flammy 03:29 02:19 66 90
Sheapey Sheapey 03:34 02:33 71 97
richard 03:34 03:05 86 117
markdobell 03:40 03:33 96 131
Ciolf 03:51 02:27 63 86
LJCN 03:59 02:43 68 93
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:05 02:35 63 86
Kinghedger 04:08 02:35 62 84
Amoeba89 04:10 02:45 66 90
SimonAnthony 04:11 02:57 70 95
glheard 04:13 03:08 74 101
MikeOsborne 04:13 03:09 74 101
Deane Short 04:17 03:05 71 97
chindit 04:20 03:49 88 120
Roscoe 04:23 02:29 56 76
lickert 04:25 03:21 75 102
Glencairn 04:26 03:34 80 109
Morphosis 04:31 03:58 87 119
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:39 04:04 87 119
Honggui 04:40 04:53 104 142
MK76 04:43 03:06 65 89
tilbee 04:43 03:41 78 106
d.middleton 04:43 05:02 106 145
canismiser 04:44 03:42 78 106
lucyg43484 04:45 02:29 52 71
tiggis 04:50 03:32 73 100
alexh 04:50 04:08 85 116
wwalker50 04:52 03:35 73 100
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 03:51 78 106
andrewlake 04:53 03:03 62 84
March 04:58 04:17 86 117
Bluejacket 04:58 04:50 97 132
Paul Bacon 04:58 04:22 87 119
andy 05:00 05:08 102 139
Liari 05:00 03:45 75 102
scrabbler 05:05 03:58 78 106
EricK 05:08 04:04 79 108
neilr neilr 05:09 05:03 98 134
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:09 04:18 83 113
McBeakLives 05:09 03:56 76 104
cdb_100 05:11 03:29 67 91
Johninterred 05:13 05:00 95 130
Ed freshpot 05:15 03:29 66 90
ChuckB 05:17 04:22 82 112
fshephe 05:20 05:18 99 135
footballblue 05:21 04:38 86 117
Squallaby 05:22 03:38 67 91
nina s 05:23 04:20 80 109
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:24 03:33 65 89
JayEm 05:25 05:59 110 150
Rabbitoh galspray 05:31 04:51 87 119
Freemers 05:32 03:05 55 75
esmeralda 05:32 04:31 81 110
MrChumley MrChumley 05:36 04:50 86 117
cmcnsmith 05:37 06:22 113 154
Penfold_61 05:40 05:48 102 139
rrricharrrd 05:41 05:35 98 134
Finzi 05:44 04:06 71 97
Rosron 05:46 04:05 70 95
Looch 05:47 04:54 84 115
Encota 05:49 04:22 75 102
KET 05:57 03:41 61 83
KarenR 05:58 03:30 58 79
Riche Riche 06:02 06:01 99 135
Adelaider 06:02 04:47 79 108
chriswestontour 06:04 05:27 89 121
mcrossib1 06:04 03:57 65 89
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 06:07 04:43 77 105
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:10 04:51 78 106
julian_w 06:13 05:32 89 121
jimwetzler 06:19 07:08 112 153
Shabbo 06:22 04:49 75 102
Adrian Cobb 06:23 05:51 91 124
Streaky Bacon 06:24 02:21 36 49
Tudds 06:31 05:43 87 119
hopkinb hopkinb 06:31 06:42 102 139
Aloysius 06:32 04:46 72 98
PGooden 06:34 05:48 88 120
SBQuick 06:36 04:10 63 86
ilan 06:42 04:28 66 90
Vannyx 06:45 03:51 57 78
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:46 04:52 71 97
GMcD 06:47 04:42 69 94
robinh 06:48 05:32 81 110
jon 06:51 05:30 80 109
paul.whitehouse69 06:56 04:55 70 95
James P 06:57 03:35 51 69
earlylight 07:05 04:52 68 93
Onelug 07:06 04:06 57 78
Nangle 07:06 04:58 69 94
tds 07:09 07:22 103 141
Puzzleplease 07:11 04:21 60 82
uvofiz 07:14 04:56 68 93
FraserH 07:17 05:55 81 110
KenD51 07:18 04:53 66 90
Corymbia Corymbia 07:25 07:03 95 130
Dvynys Dvynys 07:25 05:28 73 100
janesa 07:32 05:24 71 97
martinede 07:34 09:02 119 163
Gussie 07:35 05:50 76 104
dr.shred 07:40 07:05 92 126
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:40 04:50 63 86
docg 07:48 05:57 76 104
jjspomeroy 07:51 05:06 64 87
DamienKnapma 07:54 06:05 77 105
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:57 04:46 59 80
robertL 07:58 04:07 51 69
endafk 08:09 05:07 62 84
plett11 Plett11 08:12 04:46 58 79
johndun John Dunleavy 08:22 07:29 89 121
ulaca ulaca 08:23 06:54 82 112
nigelmzzz 08:36 07:20 85 116
goblin 08:39 08:04 93 127
m5harp 08:46 06:18 71 97
crucihacker 08:48 05:27 61 83
kath 08:52 06:24 72 98
edwards.robert1 08:52 04:48 54 73
Jeeves 08:53 06:30 73 100
gsriordan52 08:54 07:47 87 119
dec 08:57 06:06 68 93
Rosey6 08:57 06:51 76 104
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:06 06:53 75 102
smalley552 09:11 05:49 63 86
raincloud 09:14 05:53 63 86
richardCV22 09:18 07:54 84 115
Jamescheck JamesCheck 09:27 05:58 63 86
Doyler 09:33 05:00 52 71
mjsaunders9 09:37 05:08 53 72
barracuda barracuda 09:38 06:25 66 90
Nigel1953 09:44 07:07 73 100
Poff 09:53 07:39 77 105
iholloway 10:17 09:52 95 130
russellcannon 10:25 08:19 79 108
annikins 10:39 07:00 65 89
TonyN6 11:00 38:18 348 476
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 11:01 06:06 55 75
Cedric Statherby 11:16 12:26 110 150
alexngbr 11:18 08:56 79 108
simjt simjt 11:33 07:04 61 83
hookyt 11:36 05:38 48 65
Dr. Memory 11:45 10:07 86 117
paul.verney 11:47 08:43 73 100
BertieVII 11:47 10:56 92 126
symbenall2 11:51 06:14 52 71
youngbaz 11:52 08:06 68 93
Captain Burnaby 12:04 09:23 77 105
phatman 12:19 05:08 41 56
intentional rounding 12:28 06:40 53 72
flashman flashman 13:05 12:00 91 124
martinr486 13:15 09:34 72 98
nick.wilson 13:19 10:52 81 110
kapietro kapietro 13:51 09:15 66 90
robert.buchele 13:54 04:13 30 41
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:32 09:04 62 84
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:33 16:49 115 157
Mendes Mendesest 15:32 09:44 62 84
Holly O 16:02 11:38 72 98
kfb20 16:04 08:06 50 68
Charpentier 16:09 11:14 69 94
thechan 16:20 11:24 69 94
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:28 11:46 71 97
Steve Wood 16:46 14:48 88 120
Narayanan 16:57 12:59 76 104
tomtom2 18:14 10:59 60 82
Mark from Ipswich 18:31 11:13 60 82
TonyK 19:01 11:29 60 82
New Driver 19:31 07:42 39 53
bangsar DearHector 21:00 09:21 44 60
Geldart 21:32 16:12 75 102
philby 21:37 11:12 51 69
pfalloon 21:58 11:14 51 69
winelover 22:49 09:56 43 58
paulmcl 22:49 19:34 85 116
42colin 22:53 16:29 72 98
Jean in Oxford 23:12 11:58 51 69
Yiggsy 23:18 12:45 54 73
mozbadel mozbadel 24:26 17:52 73 100
Sotogrande1 29:46 24:06 80 109
lilias.allan 38:50 30:16 77 105
revolting tonic 42:03 31:09 74 101
mcfarl 45:22 24:29 53 72

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.

Loading...
Loading...
Back