Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2914

Date 17 February 2025
Number 2914
Setter Izetti
Day of week Monday
NITCH 82
Count of ref solvers 79
Ref solvers excluded with errors 10
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2914

* 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 02:03 01:44 84 102
cmjhutton 02:20 01:54 81 98
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:08 86 104
Jason 02:36 01:53 72 87
verlaine 02:37 02:24 91 110
hilarym 02:44 02:45 100 121
mistigris 02:46 02:12 79 96
aphis99 aphis99 02:54 02:02 70 85
Flimmy flammy 03:22 02:08 63 76
richard 03:34 03:28 97 118
Sheapey Sheapey 03:37 02:23 65 79
markdobell 03:39 03:19 90 109
Ciolf 03:53 02:55 75 91
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:06 03:21 81 98
Amoeba89 04:08 03:42 89 108
SimonAnthony 04:11 03:29 83 101
glheard 04:12 04:08 98 119
Roscoe 04:15 03:44 87 106
MikeOsborne 04:16 03:05 72 87
AlanS 04:20 04:40 107 130
chindit 04:22 04:14 96 117
Deane Short 04:27 04:21 97 118
lickert 04:28 03:14 72 87
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:38 03:52 83 101
MK76 04:40 05:04 108 131
canismiser 04:41 04:21 92 112
Honggui 04:43 05:00 106 129
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:44 04:15 89 108
denislaw 04:49 04:03 84 102
lucyg43484 04:49 05:16 109 132
LouWeed LouWeed 04:52 04:08 84 102
andrewlake 04:54 03:44 76 92
Liari 04:58 04:09 83 101
Bluejacket 05:00 05:06 102 124
scrabbler 05:01 03:56 78 95
andy 05:02 03:21 66 80
tiggis 05:03 03:16 64 78
March 05:06 04:36 90 109
EricK 05:09 04:47 92 112
neilr neilr 05:11 04:59 96 117
cdb_100 05:11 04:09 80 97
McBeakLives 05:13 05:39 108 131
ChuckB 05:14 05:14 100 121
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 04:32 85 103
JayEm 05:19 05:57 111 135
Tibthorpe 05:20 04:45 89 108
fshephe 05:21 03:34 66 80
Freemers 05:21 05:44 107 130
Ed freshpot 05:22 04:05 76 92
MossDef 05:24 04:20 80 97
Rabbitoh galspray 05:37 04:14 75 91
rrricharrrd 05:39 03:32 62 75
cmcnsmith 05:39 04:36 81 98
Finzi 05:42 04:23 76 92
Looch 05:49 07:28 128 156
Encota 05:50 04:09 71 86
Riche Riche 05:54 04:36 77 93
Adelaider 05:55 03:40 61 74
mcrossib1 05:59 04:38 77 93
RobR RobR 06:01 04:35 76 92
KarenR 06:02 05:00 82 100
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 06:04 04:38 76 92
chriswestontour 06:05 05:16 86 104
ramf 06:15 04:26 70 85
julian_w 06:16 07:14 115 140
PGooden 06:17 05:26 86 104
Streaky Bacon 06:17 05:11 82 100
jimwetzler 06:24 05:30 85 103
Dzhigit 06:26 04:06 63 76
Adrian Cobb 06:27 04:50 74 90
hopkinb hopkinb 06:29 05:39 87 106
SBQuick 06:32 05:00 76 92
Vannyx 06:36 04:20 65 79
Tudds 06:41 04:39 69 84
GMcD 06:41 05:09 77 93
ilan 06:46 07:14 106 129
jon 06:48 06:50 100 121
robinh 06:50 05:38 82 100
James P 06:59 04:52 69 84
Onelug 07:00 07:14 103 125
Nangle 07:12 08:46 121 147
uvofiz 07:13 05:08 71 86
Dvynys Dvynys 07:16 07:28 102 124
Puzzleplease 07:16 06:40 91 110
KenD51 07:18 05:09 70 85
tds 07:21 07:35 103 125
DianeRS 07:22 05:58 80 97
FraserH 07:23 05:48 78 95
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:34 06:37 87 106
ChrisBrea 07:34 08:45 115 140
Jamie Fox 07:40 07:43 100 121
1234 07:47 09:15 118 143
robertbridge 07:51 05:23 68 82
DamienKnapma 07:56 06:52 86 104
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 08:01 06:39 82 100
alastair52 08:02 09:57 123 150
endafk 08:03 05:14 65 79
Templar Redux Templar 08:14 05:31 67 81
ulaca ulaca 08:14 06:43 81 98
John Arnold 08:15 12:21 149 181
Aldus 08:16 07:14 87 106
plett11 Plett11 08:16 09:05 109 132
Sheen 08:20 06:28 77 93
edwards.robert1 08:31 03:12 37 45
johndun John Dunleavy 08:32 09:55 116 141
goblin 08:33 07:32 88 107
td349 08:33 05:20 62 75
OldSolver 08:36 07:49 90 109
mattindoha 08:44 07:11 82 100
Jeeves 08:49 06:55 78 95
mjsaunders9 08:51 05:24 61 74
Jamescheck JamesCheck 08:54 06:21 71 86
gsriordan52 08:55 07:29 83 101
kath 08:58 07:17 81 98
Edprof 08:59 06:31 72 87
GMB 09:00 08:17 92 112
luxtonj61 09:00 13:25 149 181
smalley552 09:06 06:03 66 80
dec 09:12 06:53 74 90
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:13 07:54 85 103
Manuel1 09:13 09:07 98 119
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:23 09:34 101 123
ezoredfox 09:32 05:41 59 71
jemcd33 09:34 06:01 62 75
richardCV22 09:34 07:14 75 91
barracuda barracuda 09:37 07:48 81 98
Maitresse 09:43 09:03 93 113
annbrew 09:53 07:10 72 87
hemantyd 09:54 13:28 136 165
Laputan 09:58 07:44 77 93
mamster 09:59 07:45 77 93
Poff 09:59 07:23 73 89
MichelinPoitiers 10:08 11:40 115 140
ofarrell 10:24 07:41 73 89
FelicityTT 10:24 07:53 75 91
maisiemae 10:29 10:49 103 125
piltdown man 10:37 12:49 120 146
Birdingbob 10:50 09:50 90 109
starstruck starstruck_au 10:58 09:57 90 109
TonyN6 11:05 09:25 84 102
alexngbr 11:06 08:40 78 95
E Bradford E Bradford 11:16 11:55 105 128
simjt simjt 11:21 12:51 113 137
Cedric Statherby 11:22 13:25 118 143
Pauline Minter 11:25 08:12 71 86
youngbaz 11:41 14:08 120 146
BertieVII 11:51 07:49 65 79
intentional rounding 12:18 09:59 81 98
chabuduo chabuduo 12:42 10:57 86 104
tyrotim tyrotim 12:49 11:02 86 104
alistair.boere 12:52 12:38 98 119
rlowin2 12:53 13:56 108 131
flashman flashman 13:00 13:00 100 121
nick.wilson 13:02 08:26 64 78
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 13:04 08:55 68 82
martinr486 13:14 11:00 83 101
ifincham2 13:15 10:09 76 92
Rammy Trainor 13:16 16:11 121 147
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:34 16:05 110 134
The Real Steve Snackman 14:40 13:05 89 108
MichaelE 14:51 09:05 61 74
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:59 12:41 84 102
trish_tang 15:07 13:54 91 110
Jax74 15:33 23:32 151 184
Xebeq 16:22 22:06 135 164
keithandginnybirrell 16:27 30:56 188 229
Holly O 16:28 16:07 97 118
Steve Wood 17:11 13:48 80 97
Mark from Ipswich 17:41 15:39 88 107
New Driver 19:06 15:39 81 98
TonyK 19:44 29:55 151 184
ian.shepherd 20:43 17:36 84 102
pfalloon 21:11 09:54 46 56
Dofray 21:52 21:49 99 120
thechan 22:31 13:11 58 70
RK123 23:10 12:59 56 68
david 23:11 18:38 80 97
paulmcl 25:37 11:52 46 56
DrAnatomist 29:42 36:06 121 147
Sotogrande1 30:37 47:02 153 186
IanV IanV 32:39 33:37 102 124
revolting tonic 41:50 36:28 87 106
lilias.allan 42:51 29:31 68 82
mcfarl 46:13 40:45 88 107

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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