Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2918

Date 21 February 2025
Number 2918
Setter Teazel
Day of week Friday
NITCH 84
Count of ref solvers 76
Ref solvers excluded with errors 6
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2918

* 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 02:20 01:47 76 90
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:13 89 105
verlaine 02:37 01:36 61 72
mistigris 02:46 02:25 87 103
aphis99 aphis99 02:54 03:16 112 133
Flimmy flammy 03:22 03:18 98 116
markdobell 03:39 02:28 67 79
Ciolf 03:53 03:52 99 117
Amoeba89 04:08 04:06 99 117
Kinghedger 04:09 03:27 83 98
SimonAnthony 04:11 03:53 92 109
glheard 04:12 03:35 85 101
Umpire 04:15 05:15 123 146
MikeOsborne 04:16 03:47 88 104
chindit 04:22 03:33 81 96
Golvellius 04:24 03:41 83 98
chriswords 04:25 05:18 120 142
Deane Short 04:27 02:50 63 75
lickert 04:28 04:08 92 109
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:38 03:52 83 98
MK76 04:40 03:34 76 90
canismiser 04:41 05:38 120 142
Honggui 04:43 04:27 94 111
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:44 03:53 82 97
alexh 04:45 03:49 80 95
lucyg43484 04:49 03:40 76 90
denislaw 04:49 05:32 114 135
andrewlake 04:54 04:04 82 97
Liari 04:58 05:00 100 119
d.middleton 05:00 04:34 91 108
Bluejacket 05:00 03:02 60 71
scrabbler 05:01 04:29 89 105
andy 05:02 03:48 75 89
March 05:06 04:32 88 104
EricK 05:09 07:04 137 163
cdb_100 05:11 02:54 55 65
McBeakLives 05:13 04:11 80 95
Johninterred 05:16 04:55 93 110
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:16 06:17 119 141
Squallaby 05:17 05:24 102 121
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 05:01 94 111
Zander 05:18 05:46 108 128
Tibthorpe 05:20 05:11 97 115
Freemers 05:21 03:30 65 77
fshephe 05:21 02:46 51 60
Ed freshpot 05:22 03:57 73 86
AndyKnott321 05:36 06:02 107 127
Rabbitoh galspray 05:37 05:55 105 125
Finzi 05:42 05:28 95 113
esmeralda 05:42 04:19 75 89
Looch 05:49 04:34 78 92
Rosron 05:51 06:00 102 121
Riche Riche 05:54 04:38 78 92
Adelaider 05:55 04:11 70 83
mcrossib1 05:59 05:41 94 111
RobR RobR 06:01 05:25 90 107
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 06:04 05:26 89 105
chriswestontour 06:05 05:25 89 105
ramf 06:15 04:59 79 94
julian_w 06:16 05:02 80 95
PGooden 06:17 05:30 87 103
Carol 06:20 06:56 109 129
Shabbo 06:24 04:43 73 86
Dzhigit 06:26 05:51 90 107
Adrian Cobb 06:27 05:33 86 102
SBQuick 06:32 07:27 114 135
andrewfeist96 06:35 06:28 98 116
Vannyx 06:36 04:16 64 76
Curarist 06:37 05:28 82 97
Tudds 06:41 07:30 112 133
GMcD 06:41 06:22 95 113
ilan 06:46 06:41 98 116
Michael Dove 06:47 05:08 75 89
jon 06:48 06:07 89 105
paul.whitehouse69 06:52 05:03 73 86
Gaius 06:54 07:16 105 125
James P 06:59 07:36 108 128
Onelug 07:00 04:22 62 73
Nangle 07:12 06:26 89 105
uvofiz 07:13 07:41 106 126
Dvynys Dvynys 07:16 10:19 141 167
Puzzleplease 07:16 06:44 92 109
KenD51 07:18 06:05 83 98
tds 07:21 06:53 93 110
DianeRS 07:22 06:37 89 105
janesa 07:31 05:56 78 92
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:34 06:22 84 100
nigel 07:38 05:24 70 83
Jamie Fox 07:40 05:33 72 85
docg 07:40 08:25 109 129
1234 07:47 10:53 139 165
DamienKnapma 07:56 05:13 65 77
alastair52 08:02 09:52 122 145
endafk 08:03 07:27 92 109
ulaca ulaca 08:14 07:13 87 103
John Arnold 08:15 05:59 72 85
plett11 Plett11 08:16 07:00 84 100
Aldus 08:16 05:59 72 85
Sheen 08:20 08:50 106 126
edwards.robert1 08:31 04:26 52 61
goblin 08:33 09:46 114 135
OldSolver 08:36 10:54 126 150
nigelmzzz 08:43 06:49 78 92
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:46 11:14 128 152
Cuppa378 08:49 08:51 100 119
Jeeves 08:49 07:03 79 94
Rosey6 08:50 07:33 85 101
mjsaunders9 08:51 06:38 74 88
john.brassey 08:51 08:05 91 108
Jamescheck JamesCheck 08:54 04:44 53 63
gsriordan52 08:55 07:14 81 96
crucihacker 08:58 09:09 102 121
kath 08:58 08:19 92 109
crosswordian 08:58 08:20 92 109
Edprof 08:59 08:53 98 116
luxtonj61 09:00 07:01 77 91
smalley552 09:06 09:01 99 117
dec 09:12 06:43 73 86
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:13 11:28 124 147
Manuel1 09:13 07:22 79 94
timbo 09:13 08:01 86 102
raincloud 09:22 13:04 139 165
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:23 11:06 118 140
richardCV22 09:34 07:45 81 96
jemcd33 09:34 08:48 91 108
JanieP 09:34 06:08 64 76
barracuda barracuda 09:37 09:36 99 117
Coffell 09:41 11:25 117 139
Maitresse 09:43 05:54 60 71
annbrew 09:53 10:50 109 129
Laputan 09:58 08:54 89 105
Poff 09:59 06:21 63 75
Nigel1953 10:10 09:23 92 109
mich_punk 10:13 09:32 93 110
russellcannon 10:15 07:28 72 85
maisiemae 10:29 10:39 101 120
Nuck_the_king 10:35 08:06 76 90
piltdown man 10:37 14:35 137 163
Rhys 10:40 09:55 92 109
annikins 10:43 10:16 95 113
CoxBurglar 10:43 09:19 86 102
Birdingbob 10:50 10:24 96 114
The Mighty Salmon 10:55 07:56 72 85
starstruck starstruck_au 10:58 18:14 166 197
Troothful 10:58 15:35 142 169
TonyN6 11:05 08:56 80 95
alexngbr 11:06 08:21 75 89
simjt simjt 11:21 13:09 115 136
Cedric Statherby 11:22 07:35 66 78
youngbaz 11:41 12:00 102 121
Dr. Memory 11:48 13:52 117 139
BertieVII 11:51 09:42 81 96
Struwa Struwa 12:17 09:08 74 88
intentional rounding 12:18 12:01 97 115
chabuduo chabuduo 12:42 08:01 63 75
alistair.boere 12:52 10:12 79 94
rlowin2 12:53 11:48 91 108
flashman flashman 13:00 13:00 100 119
nick.wilson 13:02 12:56 99 117
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 13:04 11:13 85 101
ifincham2 13:15 11:16 85 101
kapietro kapietro 13:23 09:05 67 79
mpbthorpe 13:27 09:40 71 84
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:34 13:17 91 108
The Real Steve Snackman 14:40 09:48 66 78
JanetP 14:46 16:25 111 132
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:59 19:01 126 150
Mendes Mendesest 15:09 09:36 63 75
Guy Hatton 15:29 17:59 116 138
Jax74 15:33 13:04 84 100
Xebeq 16:22 18:21 112 133
kfb20 16:31 09:38 58 69
tomtom2 17:00 13:25 78 92
james 17:08 30:49 179 213
Mark from Ipswich 17:41 10:36 59 70
david.14587 18:36 16:27 88 104
New Driver 19:06 11:30 60 71
TonyK 19:44 21:47 110 130
winelover 20:11 19:12 95 113
Hazelnut 21:10 22:23 105 125
pfalloon 21:11 11:12 52 61
Yiggsy 21:42 24:16 111 132
philby 21:56 29:01 132 157
RK123 23:10 10:26 45 53
shankar 25:12 55:24 219 260
mozbadel mozbadel 25:46 18:15 70 83
jlloyd4424 28:46 16:07 56 66
IanV IanV 32:39 48:00 147 175
prognosticat 33:19 37:41 113 134
revolting tonic 41:50 49:40 118 140
mcfarl 46:13 57:04 123 146

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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