Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2944

Date 24 March 2025
Number 2944
Setter Izetti
Day of week Monday
NITCH 78
Count of ref solvers 77
Ref solvers excluded with errors 11
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2944

* 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
Paul Gilbert 02:24 01:42 70 89
Jason 02:34 02:14 87 111
verlaine 02:36 03:11 122 156
mistigris 02:43 02:17 84 107
hilarym 02:47 02:02 73 93
Magoo 02:53 02:46 95 121
aphis99 aphis99 02:54 02:19 79 101
markdobell 03:39 02:46 75 96
Ciolf 03:48 03:45 98 125
Heyesey 03:54 03:14 82 105
glheard 04:09 03:51 92 117
AlanS 04:09 02:51 68 87
Kinghedger 04:11 03:59 95 121
SimonAnthony 04:11 03:08 74 94
Amoeba89 04:13 02:52 67 85
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:16 03:25 80 102
MikeOsborne 04:18 03:03 70 89
lickert 04:23 03:41 84 107
chindit 04:25 03:50 86 110
Roscoe 04:26 01:46 39 50
Morphosis 04:28 04:02 90 115
Deane Short 04:31 03:24 75 96
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:36 04:02 87 111
MK76 04:40 04:00 85 108
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 03:53 82 105
toots 04:43 04:55 104 133
tilbee 04:45 04:31 95 121
Glencairn 04:45 04:04 85 108
canismiser 04:47 04:11 87 111
alexh 04:48 05:02 104 133
Paul Bacon 04:53 04:59 102 130
lucyg43484 04:53 03:31 72 92
Bluejacket 04:53 03:50 78 100
denislaw 04:54 04:32 92 117
andrewlake 04:54 05:06 104 133
Liari 04:55 05:13 106 135
scrabbler 04:57 04:01 81 103
andy 05:00 04:42 94 120
d.middleton 05:01 04:27 88 112
Freemers 05:02 04:20 86 110
cdb_100 05:04 04:04 80 102
tiggis 05:05 03:20 65 83
footballblue 05:06 04:30 88 112
March 05:06 04:03 79 101
McBeakLives 05:07 03:55 76 97
EricK 05:07 03:26 67 85
neilr neilr 05:16 04:02 76 97
ChuckB 05:16 05:16 100 128
JayEm 05:17 07:26 140 179
Tibthorpe 05:17 05:14 99 126
Johninterred 05:17 04:15 80 102
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 04:13 79 101
Ed freshpot 05:21 05:33 103 132
fshephe 05:21 04:16 79 101
Zander 05:21 03:53 72 92
Aly Duncan 05:32 03:42 66 84
AndyKnott321 05:33 04:04 73 93
rrricharrrd 05:33 03:42 66 84
cmcnsmith 05:34 04:54 88 112
mcrossib1 05:39 04:57 87 111
Finzi 05:41 05:04 89 114
Rabbitoh galspray 05:44 04:53 85 108
Adelaider 05:45 04:35 79 101
KET 05:46 04:28 77 98
Riche Riche 05:47 05:35 96 123
robertL 05:50 07:59 136 174
Encota 05:51 06:11 105 134
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:53 04:46 81 103
RobR RobR 05:58 05:17 88 112
Rosron 05:58 05:26 91 116
whichcraft 06:01 05:20 88 112
mw7000 06:03 04:40 77 98
KarenR 06:03 04:06 67 85
chriswestontour 06:08 05:26 88 112
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:09 05:14 85 108
Mike C 06:10 05:31 89 114
Shabbo 06:18 05:01 79 101
PGooden 06:19 04:14 67 85
Adrian Cobb 06:28 05:30 85 108
Vannyx 06:37 04:33 68 87
Kalakuta72 06:43 05:45 85 108
jon 06:44 06:41 99 126
Tudds 06:46 04:48 70 89
GMcD 06:48 05:12 76 97
Curarist 06:49 04:37 67 85
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:52 06:56 100 128
paul.whitehouse69 06:58 05:42 81 103
Michael Dove 07:01 04:47 68 87
earlylight 07:04 06:42 94 120
James P 07:04 07:22 104 133
robinh 07:07 07:21 103 132
JoeyC 07:08 05:50 81 103
Manveru 07:14 05:54 81 103
uvofiz 07:15 05:42 78 100
Nangle 07:17 04:21 59 75
Dvynys Dvynys 07:17 05:23 73 93
FraserH 07:20 04:50 65 83
DianeRS 07:24 06:20 85 108
Obrador 07:31 06:49 90 115
valerian1967 07:32 04:46 63 80
Corymbia Corymbia 07:33 07:31 99 126
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 07:26 98 125
endafk 07:40 06:31 85 108
nigel 07:40 07:22 96 123
DamienKnapma 07:51 09:49 125 160
Jamie Fox 07:52 05:07 65 83
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:54 07:45 98 125
CrystalPip 07:57 06:09 77 98
td349 08:04 09:35 118 151
plett11 Plett11 08:16 06:56 83 106
Aldus 08:16 08:48 106 135
Sheen 08:21 05:57 71 91
ulaca ulaca 08:25 06:21 75 96
John Arnold 08:28 07:03 83 106
Templar Redux Templar 08:34 08:24 98 125
vefatica vefatica 08:38 07:28 86 110
johndun John Dunleavy 08:41 08:18 95 121
OldSolver 08:41 06:47 78 100
Edprof 08:42 08:54 102 130
goblin 08:42 06:46 77 98
Jeeves 08:45 05:57 68 87
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:48 06:11 70 89
crucihacker 08:48 08:21 94 120
mattindoha 08:50 05:38 63 80
Cuppa378 09:01 06:16 69 88
mjsaunders9 09:09 04:33 49 62
hemantyd 09:11 08:15 89 114
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:14 06:52 74 94
crosswordian 09:19 06:50 73 93
raincloud 09:22 06:19 67 85
ofarrell 09:23 07:36 80 102
barracuda barracuda 09:28 09:23 99 126
jemcd33 09:36 05:24 56 71
Nigel1953 09:49 03:06 31 39
Coffell 09:50 05:49 59 75
annbrew 09:53 08:49 89 114
Poff 10:09 05:05 50 64
moirconsult 10:17 03:52 37 47
Pendrov 10:20 07:59 77 98
johnwynnewilliams 10:31 12:25 118 151
piltdown man 10:37 07:56 74 94
maisiemae 10:38 09:46 91 116
russellcannon 10:45 07:47 72 92
Birdingbob 10:50 06:38 61 78
TonyN6 10:57 09:21 85 108
iholloway 11:00 08:28 76 97
starstruck starstruck_au 11:04 08:45 79 101
paul.verney 11:15 10:28 93 119
alexngbr 11:16 07:42 68 87
Cedric Statherby 11:17 10:39 94 120
simjt simjt 11:18 07:27 65 83
phatman 11:29 08:59 78 100
E Bradford E Bradford 11:39 07:51 67 85
BertieVII 11:57 07:41 64 82
Captain Burnaby 12:22 07:22 59 75
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:46 13:58 109 139
chabuduo chabuduo 12:48 14:26 112 143
flashman flashman 12:52 15:00 116 148
kapietro kapietro 12:57 10:15 79 101
tyrotim tyrotim 13:03 10:29 80 102
martinr486 13:13 11:08 84 107
The Real Steve Snackman 13:52 09:53 71 91
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:35 11:25 78 100
Mendes Mendesest 14:59 12:25 82 105
trish_tang 15:02 08:59 59 75
Merlin_55 Merlin 15:08 16:29 108 138
Charpentier 15:13 03:34 23 29
Guy Hatton 15:14 15:05 99 126
Xebeq 16:21 08:42 53 67
Mark from Ipswich 16:43 10:15 61 78
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:48 17:30 104 133
david.14587 16:49 25:33 151 193
Steve Wood 16:54 15:19 90 115
tomtom2 17:00 16:27 96 123
New Driver 18:18 07:42 42 53
keithandginnybirrell 18:25 11:43 63 80
TonyK 19:40 18:28 93 119
ian.shepherd 21:22 37:49 176 225
bangsar DearHector 21:27 18:37 86 110
dominic.c-b 23:51 14:25 60 76
pamelalewis51 24:31 13:40 55 70
Askani 26:42 22:06 82 105
DrAnatomist 30:25 19:33 64 82
IanV IanV 33:27 39:00 116 148
lilias.allan 44:24 28:21 63 80
mcfarl 46:44 19:50 42 53

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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