Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2945

Date 25 March 2025
Number 2945
Setter Mara
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 86
Count of ref solvers 81
Ref solvers excluded with errors 1
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2945

* 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 02:18 02:04 89 103
Paul Gilbert 02:24 01:48 75 87
Jason 02:34 02:29 96 111
verlaine 02:36 02:55 112 130
mistigris 02:43 02:45 101 117
hilarym 02:47 03:21 120 139
Magoo 02:53 03:04 106 123
aphis99 aphis99 02:54 02:12 75 87
Flimmy flammy 03:16 02:49 86 100
richard 03:37 03:58 109 126
markdobell 03:39 03:29 95 110
Ciolf 03:48 03:07 82 95
Heyesey 03:54 02:44 70 81
AlanS 04:09 03:44 89 103
glheard 04:09 03:32 85 98
SimonAnthony 04:11 05:41 135 156
Kinghedger 04:11 04:46 113 131
Amoeba89 04:13 04:51 115 133
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:16 03:33 83 96
MikeOsborne 04:18 03:44 86 100
lickert 04:23 03:14 73 84
chindit 04:25 04:19 97 112
Roscoe 04:26 04:56 111 129
Morphosis 04:28 05:09 115 133
Deane Short 04:31 03:30 77 89
MK76 04:40 04:38 99 115
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 05:39 119 138
toots 04:43 05:36 118 137
tilbee 04:45 04:21 91 105
Honggui 04:46 05:50 122 141
canismiser 04:47 03:39 76 88
alexh 04:48 05:11 107 124
LouWeed LouWeed 04:52 04:44 97 112
lucyg43484 04:53 04:05 83 96
denislaw 04:54 04:40 95 110
andrewlake 04:54 05:15 107 124
Liari 04:55 04:23 89 103
scrabbler 04:57 04:43 95 110
andy 05:00 04:13 84 97
Freemers 05:02 04:28 88 102
cdb_100 05:04 04:46 94 109
tiggis 05:05 03:54 76 88
March 05:06 04:16 83 96
McBeakLives 05:07 04:09 81 94
EricK 05:07 03:27 67 77
neilr neilr 05:16 04:49 91 105
Tibthorpe 05:17 06:01 113 131
JayEm 05:17 04:32 85 98
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 03:50 72 83
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:19 04:24 82 95
Ed freshpot 05:21 04:40 87 101
Zander 05:21 04:11 78 90
fshephe 05:21 06:20 118 137
Squallaby 05:24 06:20 117 136
nina s 05:28 03:09 57 66
rrricharrrd 05:33 04:23 78 90
AndyKnott321 05:33 04:25 79 91
mcrossib1 05:39 07:23 130 151
Finzi 05:41 06:18 110 127
Rabbitoh galspray 05:44 04:11 72 83
esmeralda 05:45 05:28 95 110
Adelaider 05:45 04:54 85 98
Riche Riche 05:47 05:49 100 116
robertL 05:50 07:01 120 139
Encota 05:51 04:01 68 79
Looch 05:51 04:37 78 90
fishernick79 05:52 04:37 78 90
Rosron 05:58 06:11 103 119
RobR RobR 05:58 06:48 113 131
whichcraft 06:01 05:16 87 101
KarenR 06:03 08:04 133 154
mw7000 06:03 07:43 127 147
Streaky Bacon 06:07 04:51 79 91
Mike C 06:10 05:01 81 94
andrewfeist96 06:17 07:36 120 139
hopkinb hopkinb 06:18 05:47 91 105
chrismarch 06:23 04:01 62 72
Dzhigit 06:24 08:51 138 160
Adrian Cobb 06:28 06:12 95 110
SBQuick 06:31 04:52 74 86
ramf 06:36 05:22 81 94
Vannyx 06:37 05:44 86 100
jon 06:44 06:49 101 117
ilan 06:44 07:22 109 126
Tudds 06:46 07:21 108 125
GMcD 06:48 06:59 102 118
Curarist 06:49 06:07 89 103
drginacoco 06:55 01:10 16 18
paul.whitehouse69 06:58 05:39 81 94
Onelug 06:59 06:03 86 100
robinh 07:07 06:03 85 98
uvofiz 07:15 07:53 108 125
KenD51 07:17 07:47 106 123
Dvynys Dvynys 07:17 06:13 85 98
Nangle 07:17 08:12 112 130
Puzzleplease 07:20 06:20 86 100
thewanderingeditor 07:21 04:50 65 75
adamhanley71 07:24 06:09 83 96
dr.shred 07:26 03:07 41 47
banishspam 07:28 05:59 80 93
Corymbia Corymbia 07:33 06:38 87 101
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 05:44 75 87
SlumdogEngineer 07:39 06:12 81 94
DamienKnapma 07:51 05:12 66 76
Jamie Fox 07:52 11:29 145 168
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:54 08:01 101 117
1234 07:57 09:20 117 136
td349 08:04 04:57 61 70
plett11 Plett11 08:16 08:20 100 116
Calculator001 08:21 09:16 110 127
ulaca ulaca 08:25 11:52 140 162
John Arnold 08:28 07:22 87 101
Templar Redux Templar 08:34 07:31 87 101
jaraab 08:35 06:40 77 89
vefatica vefatica 08:38 08:26 97 112
OldSolver 08:41 07:10 82 95
johndun John Dunleavy 08:41 10:07 116 134
goblin 08:42 09:20 107 124
Edprof 08:42 09:49 112 130
m5harp 08:47 06:19 71 82
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:48 07:53 89 103
crucihacker 08:48 09:14 104 120
mattindoha 08:50 08:52 100 116
john.brassey 08:58 09:48 109 126
dec 08:59 07:04 78 90
kath 09:02 08:06 89 103
gsriordan52 09:07 09:42 106 123
mjsaunders9 09:09 04:37 50 58
timbo 09:10 10:42 116 134
hemantyd 09:11 07:04 76 88
barracuda barracuda 09:28 11:47 124 144
f4rch 09:29 21:20 224 260
JeffHobbs 09:31 05:40 59 68
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:43 11:31 118 137
mich_punk 09:46 10:10 104 120
Nigel1953 09:49 02:26 24 27
Coffell 09:50 12:23 125 145
annbrew 09:53 07:39 77 89
cerds 09:57 08:28 85 98
Dr_Bob 09:58 07:00 70 81
hookyt 10:01 10:40 106 123
Poff 10:09 11:04 109 126
Word Psmith 10:09 12:23 122 141
moirconsult 10:17 02:49 27 31
annikins 10:26 08:08 77 89
Nuck_the_king 10:27 09:26 90 104
piltdown man 10:37 11:10 105 122
maisiemae 10:38 10:01 94 109
russellcannon 10:45 08:47 81 94
TonyN6 10:57 08:20 76 88
Cedric Statherby 11:17 07:32 66 76
SlowSteady 11:17 12:35 111 129
simjt simjt 11:18 08:35 75 87
E Bradford E Bradford 11:39 11:39 100 116
BertieVII 11:57 12:43 106 123
symbenall2 12:08 19:59 164 190
rlowin2 12:34 14:01 111 129
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:46 12:02 94 109
chabuduo chabuduo 12:48 09:24 73 84
flashman flashman 12:52 16:00 124 144
tyrotim tyrotim 13:03 10:28 80 93
martinr486 13:13 10:43 81 94
Sonofjim 13:14 14:54 112 130
The Real Steve Snackman 13:52 10:45 77 89
Adele Bright 13:53 07:10 51 59
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:35 17:59 123 143
Mendes Mendesest 14:59 11:30 76 88
trish_tang 15:02 14:15 94 109
Merlin_55 Merlin 15:08 12:10 80 93
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:10 07:45 51 59
Charpentier 15:13 15:17 100 116
kfb20 16:01 12:22 77 89
Holly O 16:27 14:11 86 100
Mark from Ipswich 16:43 10:27 62 72
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:48 13:12 78 90
david.14587 16:49 13:24 79 91
Steve Wood 16:54 15:36 92 106
tomtom2 17:00 17:09 100 116
dan_tman 17:15 09:00 52 60
james 17:34 07:11 40 46
New Driver 18:18 17:58 98 113
TonyK 19:40 20:28 104 120
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 20:55 22:32 107 124
Pontypandy 21:06 16:30 78 90
ian.shepherd 21:22 26:04 121 140
pfalloon 21:24 07:54 36 41
bangsar DearHector 21:27 11:28 53 61
maryht 21:32 24:10 112 130
RK123 23:01 11:16 48 55
paulmcl 23:38 27:50 117 136
dominic.c-b 23:51 16:03 67 77
ttto 24:05 20:33 85 98
pamelalewis51 24:31 26:31 108 125
shankar 25:35 38:55 152 176
DrAnatomist 30:25 22:10 72 83
Aresbiscuits 30:57 13:40 44 51
IanV IanV 33:27 32:27 97 112
mcfarl 46:44 39:13 83 96

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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