Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2947

Date 27 March 2025
Number 2947
Setter Teazel
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 77
Count of ref solvers 84
Ref solvers excluded with errors 9
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2947

* 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 02:39 115 149
Paul Gilbert 02:24 02:09 89 115
mauefw 02:33 02:22 92 119
Jason 02:34 02:05 81 105
verlaine 02:36 02:13 85 110
mistigris 02:43 02:10 79 102
hilarym 02:47 01:58 70 90
aphis99 aphis99 02:54 02:12 75 97
Flimmy flammy 03:16 02:30 76 98
richard 03:37 02:59 82 106
markdobell 03:39 03:29 95 123
Sheapey Sheapey 03:40 03:27 94 122
Ciolf 03:48 03:14 85 110
Heyesey 03:54 02:44 70 90
glheard 04:09 04:49 116 150
SimonAnthony 04:11 04:14 101 131
Kinghedger 04:11 02:34 61 79
Amoeba89 04:13 03:09 74 96
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:16 03:05 72 93
MikeOsborne 04:18 03:15 75 97
lickert 04:23 03:17 74 96
chindit 04:25 03:26 77 100
Deane Short 04:31 03:30 77 100
chriswords 04:34 05:15 114 148
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:36 03:20 72 93
MK76 04:40 03:58 85 110
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 03:24 72 93
tilbee 04:45 04:52 102 132
Honggui 04:46 04:16 89 115
alexh 04:48 03:29 72 93
LouWeed LouWeed 04:52 06:18 129 167
Bluejacket 04:53 05:02 103 133
wwalker50 04:53 06:26 131 170
lucyg43484 04:53 03:16 66 85
andrewlake 04:54 03:15 66 85
denislaw 04:54 04:56 100 129
Liari 04:55 05:06 103 133
scrabbler 04:57 03:49 77 100
andy 05:00 03:25 68 88
d.middleton 05:01 06:00 119 154
LuckOfLucien 05:01 04:11 83 107
Freemers 05:02 04:07 81 105
cdb_100 05:04 04:16 84 109
March 05:06 04:09 81 105
EricK 05:07 03:15 63 81
McBeakLives 05:07 06:19 123 159
neilr neilr 05:16 04:17 81 105
ChuckB 05:16 05:04 96 124
Tibthorpe 05:17 04:24 83 107
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:18 04:13 79 102
Ed freshpot 05:21 04:26 82 106
fshephe 05:21 04:25 82 106
Zander 05:21 04:43 88 114
Squallaby 05:24 04:18 79 102
nina s 05:28 02:35 47 61
rrricharrrd 05:33 02:53 51 66
AndyKnott321 05:33 05:31 99 128
cmcnsmith 05:34 06:42 120 155
mcrossib1 05:39 05:19 94 122
Finzi 05:41 05:48 102 132
MrChumley MrChumley 05:41 05:37 98 127
Rabbitoh galspray 05:44 05:40 98 127
esmeralda 05:45 04:16 74 96
Rinteff Rinteff 05:47 05:18 91 118
Riche Riche 05:47 04:38 80 103
robertL 05:50 07:31 128 166
Encota 05:51 04:49 82 106
fishernick79 05:52 05:06 86 111
RobR RobR 05:58 04:16 71 92
Rosron 05:58 06:06 102 132
whichcraft 06:01 05:27 90 116
KarenR 06:03 04:56 81 105
mw7000 06:03 04:36 76 98
Streaky Bacon 06:07 04:01 65 84
chriswestontour 06:08 04:18 70 90
Mike C 06:10 06:48 110 142
andrewfeist96 06:17 04:28 71 92
hopkinb hopkinb 06:18 06:32 103 133
PGooden 06:19 05:33 87 112
julian_w 06:22 04:08 64 83
Dzhigit 06:24 08:08 127 164
jimwetzler 06:28 05:17 81 105
Adrian Cobb 06:28 05:26 84 109
SBQuick 06:31 05:17 81 105
ramf 06:36 06:27 97 125
Vannyx 06:37 05:27 82 106
Kalakuta72 06:43 05:41 84 109
jon 06:44 05:11 76 98
Tudds 06:46 04:48 70 90
GMcD 06:48 04:50 71 92
Curarist 06:49 04:34 66 85
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 06:52 07:19 106 137
drginacoco 06:55 01:21 19 24
Michael Dove 07:01 07:39 109 141
James P 07:04 05:15 74 96
earlylight 07:04 07:27 105 136
robinh 07:07 05:51 82 106
uvofiz 07:15 04:36 63 81
Nangle 07:17 06:52 94 122
Dvynys Dvynys 07:17 07:54 108 140
Puzzleplease 07:20 08:27 115 149
thewanderingeditor 07:21 06:57 94 122
DianeRS 07:24 05:24 72 93
dr.shred 07:26 08:55 119 154
banishspam 07:28 09:46 130 168
Obrador 07:31 05:58 79 102
Corymbia Corymbia 07:33 09:40 128 166
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 04:23 57 74
SlumdogEngineer 07:39 05:12 67 87
ChrisBrea 07:43 05:13 67 87
DamienKnapma 07:51 06:12 78 101
Jamie Fox 07:52 10:37 134 174
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:54 06:50 86 111
1234 07:57 08:07 102 132
td349 08:04 07:39 94 122
plett11 Plett11 08:16 08:57 108 140
Aldus 08:16 04:36 55 71
ulaca ulaca 08:25 07:36 90 116
John Arnold 08:28 06:04 71 92
Templar Redux Templar 08:34 06:38 77 100
jaraab 08:35 07:13 84 109
vefatica vefatica 08:38 07:28 86 111
OldSolver 08:41 07:18 84 109
johndun John Dunleavy 08:41 07:31 86 111
Edprof 08:42 07:12 82 106
goblin 08:42 09:10 105 136
Jeeves 08:45 06:29 74 96
m5harp 08:47 12:42 144 187
crucihacker 08:48 07:44 87 112
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:48 07:38 86 111
mattindoha 08:50 08:59 101 131
Rosey6 08:56 09:19 104 135
Cuppa378 09:01 09:21 103 133
kath 09:02 09:13 102 132
GMB 09:02 06:43 74 96
luxtonj61 09:07 05:32 60 77
gsriordan52 09:07 07:55 86 111
mjsaunders9 09:09 05:51 63 81
hemantyd 09:11 09:59 108 140
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:14 07:45 83 107
ofarrell 09:23 09:08 97 125
barracuda barracuda 09:28 08:15 87 112
MichelinPoitiers 09:39 07:15 75 97
RPY 09:40 12:01 124 161
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:43 08:04 83 107
mich_punk 09:46 09:10 93 120
Nigel1953 09:49 02:53 29 37
Coffell 09:50 07:36 77 100
Word Psmith 10:09 09:41 95 123
moirconsult 10:17 03:11 30 38
Pendrov 10:20 09:30 91 118
piltdown man 10:37 09:48 92 119
maisiemae 10:38 09:45 91 118
russellcannon 10:45 06:56 64 83
TonyN6 10:57 07:18 66 85
starstruck starstruck_au 11:04 09:57 89 115
alexngbr 11:16 06:02 53 68
Cedric Statherby 11:17 13:48 122 158
simjt simjt 11:18 07:11 63 81
BertieVII 11:57 18:00 150 194
ifincham2 12:38 14:17 113 146
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:46 12:01 94 122
chabuduo chabuduo 12:48 11:54 92 119
flashman flashman 12:52 13:00 101 131
kapietro kapietro 12:57 12:20 95 123
tyrotim tyrotim 13:03 09:08 69 89
martinr486 13:13 10:58 82 106
Sonofjim 13:14 08:11 61 79
The Real Steve Snackman 13:52 14:00 100 129
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:35 07:19 50 64
Jax74 14:59 11:57 79 102
Merlin_55 Merlin 15:08 14:32 96 124
kfb20 16:01 13:53 86 111
Xebeq 16:21 13:23 81 105
Holly O 16:27 11:44 71 92
Mark from Ipswich 16:43 21:21 127 164
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:48 13:03 77 100
Steve Wood 16:54 10:48 63 81
tomtom2 17:00 12:05 71 92
hcmsm 17:49 17:08 96 124
New Driver 18:18 15:44 85 110
keithandginnybirrell 18:25 18:52 102 132
TonyK 19:40 20:15 102 132
Hazelnut 21:17 11:59 56 72
ian.shepherd 21:22 13:17 62 80
pfalloon 21:24 20:20 95 123
maryht 21:32 23:34 109 141
RK123 23:01 13:16 57 74
paulmcl 23:38 07:49 33 42
dominic.c-b 23:51 23:48 99 128
shankar 25:35 25:24 99 128
revolting tonic 41:48 47:06 112 145
mcfarl 46:44 39:08 83 107
deebeeem 46:50 99:18 212 275

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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