Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2365

Date 03 April 2023
Number 2365
Setter Joker
Day of week Monday
NITCH 86
Count of ref solvers 63
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2365

* 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 02:15 103 119
Paul Gilbert 02:28 02:09 87 101
Jason 02:32 02:22 93 108
verlaine 02:36 02:34 98 113
mistigris 02:40 02:32 95 110
hilarym 02:43 02:03 75 87
cmjhutton 02:44 02:41 98 113
aphis99 aphis99 02:49 02:34 91 105
Flimmy flammy 03:04 03:03 99 115
Topical Tim Topical Tim 03:38 02:21 64 74
richard 03:39 03:08 85 98
kfb20 03:45 03:45 100 116
markdobell 03:50 03:54 101 117
Heyesey 03:52 02:29 64 74
glheard 04:02 03:17 81 94
Strober 04:04 03:42 90 104
lickert 04:11 03:37 86 100
chindit 04:13 03:55 92 106
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:14 05:22 126 146
chriswords 04:14 04:07 97 112
AlanS 04:19 03:26 79 91
MikeOsborne 04:21 03:45 86 100
tilbee 04:21 04:45 109 126
tiggis 04:29 03:52 86 100
lucyg43484 04:30 03:18 73 84
jfisher60 04:33 05:41 124 144
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:36 03:56 85 98
scrabbler 04:39 04:32 97 112
andrewlake 04:44 04:44 100 116
canismiser 04:45 04:04 85 98
wwalker50 04:45 04:41 98 113
andy 04:46 04:04 85 98
March 04:46 04:29 94 109
LouWeed LouWeed 04:46 04:40 97 112
alexh 04:47 03:54 81 94
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 04:48 03:44 77 89
Ed freshpot 04:50 05:42 117 136
Ease This Jam 04:50 04:39 96 111
Umpire 04:54 04:45 96 111
Honggui 04:54 04:12 85 98
michaelbell53 04:58 04:58 100 116
Zander 05:02 04:14 84 97
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:05 04:16 83 96
The Dabbler 05:05 03:25 67 77
Squallaby 05:09 03:58 77 89
Liari 05:09 04:11 81 94
neilr neilr 05:10 05:24 104 120
footballblue 05:17 04:00 75 87
Penfold_61 05:18 03:41 69 80
Aly Duncan 05:21 03:52 72 83
esmeralda 05:23 05:16 97 112
fshephe 05:25 05:32 102 118
Spanna 05:27 05:42 104 120
george.plumbly 05:28 04:40 85 98
mw7000 05:29 03:41 67 77
KET 05:29 04:24 80 93
MossDef 05:30 05:43 103 119
AndyR 05:36 04:11 74 86
Finzi 05:39 03:58 70 81
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:41 04:53 85 98
Julian Forbes 05:45 05:41 98 113
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 05:27 92 106
Tommo87 05:53 05:26 92 106
cmcnsmith 05:56 05:49 98 113
GeorgeTz 05:56 04:46 80 93
nigel 06:00 05:09 85 98
Crossiant 06:01 04:36 76 88
Colin2355 06:02 03:56 65 75
DunPangolin 06:03 05:22 88 102
GMcD 06:08 04:37 75 87
Curarist 06:12 04:42 75 87
James P 06:18 05:13 82 95
Michael Dove 06:23 04:22 68 79
paul.whitehouse69 06:25 05:53 91 105
chrismarch 06:27 05:38 87 101
Wyn Lewis Wyn Lewis 06:28 05:38 87 101
Mike Harper Mike Harper 06:32 04:23 67 77
JeffHobbs 06:42 04:33 67 77
John Arnold 06:44 03:54 57 66
Puzzleplease 06:46 04:49 71 82
DianeRS 06:46 03:13 47 54
kitty.banks 06:49 05:33 81 94
timbo 06:51 05:00 72 83
ChrisBrea 06:57 04:40 67 77
Corymbia Corymbia 06:57 04:20 62 72
ulaca ulaca 06:57 05:52 84 97
vinyl12345 vinyl1 07:53 05:52 74 86
mattindoha 07:57 05:41 71 82

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.