Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2933

Date 11 March 2025
Number 2933
Setter Izetti
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 90
Count of ref solvers 74
Ref solvers excluded with errors 37
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2933

* 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 02:09 104 115
cmjhutton 02:18 02:44 118 131
Jason 02:34 03:03 118 131
verlaine 02:36 02:47 107 118
mistigris 02:43 02:14 82 91
hilarym 02:47 03:18 118 131
Magoo 02:53 01:59 68 75
aphis99 aphis99 02:54 02:40 91 101
Flimmy flammy 03:16 03:26 105 116
richard 03:37 02:55 80 88
markdobell 03:39 03:38 99 110
Ciolf 03:48 03:03 80 88
Heyesey 03:54 03:35 91 101
AlanS 04:09 02:58 71 78
glheard 04:09 03:56 94 104
Kinghedger 04:11 03:22 80 88
SimonAnthony 04:11 03:37 86 95
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:16 03:14 75 83
MikeOsborne 04:18 03:47 87 96
lickert 04:23 03:22 76 84
chindit 04:25 04:53 110 122
Roscoe 04:26 04:46 107 118
Morphosis 04:28 04:04 91 101
Deane Short 04:31 03:38 80 88
chriswords 04:34 04:03 88 97
toots 04:43 04:11 88 97
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 04:54 103 114
Glencairn 04:45 04:30 94 104
tilbee 04:45 04:11 88 97
alexh 04:48 03:50 79 87
LouWeed LouWeed 04:52 04:02 82 91
Bluejacket 04:53 04:07 84 93
lucyg43484 04:53 04:47 97 107
denislaw 04:54 04:25 90 100
Liari 04:55 04:04 82 91
andy 05:00 03:44 74 82
Freemers 05:02 05:13 103 114
cdb_100 05:04 04:09 81 90
tiggis 05:05 03:33 69 76
March 05:06 05:38 110 122
EricK 05:07 03:58 77 85
ChuckB 05:16 06:10 117 130
Johninterred 05:17 04:47 90 100
JayEm 05:17 03:24 64 71
Tibthorpe 05:17 06:12 117 130
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 05:19 100 111
fshephe 05:21 04:06 76 84
Ed freshpot 05:21 04:09 77 85
Zander 05:21 04:49 90 100
Squallaby 05:24 04:43 87 96
nina s 05:28 06:58 127 141
Aly Duncan 05:32 07:34 136 151
rrricharrrd 05:33 05:15 94 104
mcrossib1 05:39 06:41 118 131
Finzi 05:41 04:05 71 78
Penfold_61 05:43 06:38 116 128
Rabbitoh galspray 05:44 06:52 119 132
esmeralda 05:45 05:37 97 107
Riche Riche 05:47 05:34 96 106
Looch 05:51 04:41 80 88
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:53 05:19 90 100
Rosron 05:58 06:44 112 124
whichcraft 06:01 04:58 82 91
KarenR 06:03 05:58 98 108
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:09 09:51 160 177
andrewfeist96 06:17 04:57 78 86
PGooden 06:19 02:50 44 48
julian_w 06:22 07:44 121 134
Dzhigit 06:24 06:43 104 115
jimwetzler 06:28 07:14 111 123
SBQuick 06:31 05:26 83 92
ramf 06:36 08:41 131 145
Vannyx 06:37 06:26 97 107
ilan 06:44 08:14 122 135
GMcD 06:48 05:49 85 94
Curarist 06:49 07:31 110 122
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:52 08:32 124 137
Onelug 06:59 04:39 66 73
Michael Dove 07:01 05:37 80 88
James P 07:04 07:59 112 124
earlylight 07:04 12:22 175 194
uvofiz 07:15 07:05 97 107
Dvynys Dvynys 07:17 09:17 127 141
Puzzleplease 07:20 07:34 103 114
tds 07:27 07:37 102 113
Corymbia Corymbia 07:33 11:37 153 170
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 06:27 85 94
nigel 07:40 16:27 214 237
ChrisBrea 07:43 09:46 126 140
Jamie Fox 07:52 05:02 63 70
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:54 07:53 99 110
1234 07:57 08:28 106 117
Rozz 08:02 07:53 98 108
td349 08:04 05:53 72 80
plett11 Plett11 08:16 11:13 135 150
Aldus 08:16 09:02 109 121
Sheen 08:21 07:07 85 94
steve.laverock 08:37 10:17 119 132
vefatica vefatica 08:38 12:29 144 160
johndun John Dunleavy 08:41 09:58 114 126
goblin 08:42 09:46 112 124
Edprof 08:42 09:29 109 121
Jeeves 08:45 09:27 108 120
crucihacker 08:48 09:45 110 122
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:48 10:11 115 127
mattindoha 08:50 10:32 119 132
john.brassey 08:58 05:57 66 73
Cuppa378 09:01 07:56 87 96
kath 09:02 07:53 87 96
gsriordan52 09:07 07:43 84 93
mjsaunders9 09:09 07:17 79 87
timbo 09:10 10:01 109 121
crosswordian 09:19 10:37 113 125
raincloud 09:22 06:43 71 78
ofarrell 09:23 14:14 151 167
Maitresse 09:28 08:17 87 96
barracuda barracuda 09:28 12:38 133 147
RPY 09:40 08:40 89 98
mamster 09:42 11:11 115 127
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:43 10:49 111 123
mich_punk 09:46 10:21 105 116
Dr_Bob 09:58 10:48 108 120
hookyt 10:01 12:50 128 142
Word Psmith 10:09 12:11 120 133
moirconsult 10:17 03:33 34 37
Pendrov 10:20 16:51 163 181
annikins 10:26 15:52 152 168
Troothful 10:44 07:46 72 80
russellcannon 10:45 11:19 105 116
CoxBurglar 10:52 07:03 64 71
banni-wae 11:01 09:32 86 95
Cedric Statherby 11:17 13:15 117 130
SlowSteady 11:17 15:23 136 151
simjt simjt 11:18 13:20 117 130
Pauline Minter 11:28 09:22 81 90
E Bradford E Bradford 11:39 21:52 187 207
ifincham2 12:38 12:36 99 110
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:46 11:48 92 102
flashman flashman 12:52 18:00 139 154
kapietro kapietro 12:57 12:01 92 102
tyrotim tyrotim 13:03 12:53 98 108
jackk.larg 13:04 13:02 99 110
martinr486 13:13 15:27 116 128
The Real Steve Snackman 13:52 12:48 92 102
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:35 17:57 123 136
Mendes Mendesest 14:59 11:02 73 81
trish_tang 15:02 15:44 104 115
Charpentier 15:13 14:18 93 103
Guy Hatton 15:14 15:52 104 115
Holly O 16:27 15:14 92 102
thechan 16:32 19:07 115 127
Mark from Ipswich 16:43 14:38 87 96
Narayanan 16:54 18:01 106 117
tomtom2 17:00 20:51 122 135
TonyK 19:40 16:18 82 91
pfalloon 21:24 12:20 57 63
david 23:20 26:16 112 124
paulmcl 23:38 12:52 54 60
ttto 24:05 27:17 113 125
IanV IanV 33:27 36:50 110 122

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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