Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2962

Date 14 April 2025
Number 2962
Setter Pipsqueak
Day of week Monday
NITCH 75
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 7
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2962

* 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 02:17 02:02 89 118
Paul Gilbert 02:23 01:59 83 110
mauefw 02:30 01:55 76 101
Jason 02:35 02:34 99 132
verlaine 02:38 02:10 82 109
mistigris 02:40 02:06 78 104
hilarym 02:47 02:48 100 133
Magoo 02:54 02:56 101 134
Flimmy flammy 03:14 03:14 100 133
richard 03:38 03:00 82 109
Ciolf 03:42 02:42 72 96
markdobell 03:42 02:45 74 98
Heyesey 03:47 02:20 61 81
glheard 04:08 03:33 85 113
SimonAnthony 04:09 02:41 64 85
Amoeba89 04:09 02:24 57 76
Kinghedger 04:11 04:48 114 152
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:16 03:12 75 100
Umpire 04:19 03:59 92 122
Deane Short 04:21 03:08 72 96
lickert 04:23 03:32 80 106
Morphosis 04:27 03:21 75 100
Roscoe 04:29 04:37 102 136
chindit 04:29 03:59 88 117
MK76 04:36 03:08 68 90
chriswords 04:37 04:33 98 130
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:37 04:06 88 117
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 03:38 77 102
alexh 04:46 04:39 97 129
tilbee 04:48 03:54 81 108
LouWeed LouWeed 04:49 03:33 73 97
lucyg43484 04:50 03:08 64 85
Liari 04:52 04:53 100 133
andrewlake 04:54 03:28 70 93
canismiser 04:55 04:23 89 118
Freemers 04:55 03:22 68 90
scrabbler 04:55 03:39 74 98
cdb_100 04:57 03:22 68 90
tiggis 05:01 04:22 87 116
andy 05:01 03:29 69 92
EricK 05:02 03:29 69 92
footballblue 05:06 05:36 109 145
JayEm 05:09 04:09 80 106
March 05:10 03:49 73 97
Ed freshpot 05:12 03:16 62 82
Jon Delfin 05:13 04:09 79 105
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 04:21 82 109
neilr neilr 05:16 04:14 80 106
fshephe 05:18 03:05 58 77
Tibthorpe 05:20 04:08 77 102
ChuckB 05:21 04:05 76 101
nina s 05:25 04:00 73 97
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:25 03:31 64 85
Squallaby 05:25 04:25 81 108
esmeralda 05:36 03:35 63 84
Adelaider 05:36 05:48 103 137
Finzi 05:39 04:24 77 102
MrChumley MrChumley 05:41 03:34 62 82
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:46 03:20 57 76
Rabbitoh galspray 05:46 05:00 86 114
Looch 05:49 04:49 82 109
mcrossib1 05:50 04:05 70 93
Encota 05:54 03:33 60 80
DunPangolin 05:54 04:58 84 112
whichcraft 05:54 04:49 81 108
Rosron 05:57 05:31 92 122
chriswestontour 05:57 05:40 95 126
Streaky Bacon 06:05 04:09 68 90
Sreffej 06:16 05:04 80 106
PGooden 06:17 04:34 72 96
hopkinb hopkinb 06:18 05:57 94 125
Vannyx 06:18 04:56 78 104
ramf 06:22 04:53 76 101
Carol 06:25 05:03 78 104
jimwetzler 06:27 06:02 93 124
SBQuick 06:28 06:30 100 133
Kalakuta72 06:29 05:09 79 105
Adrian Cobb 06:29 04:14 65 86
julian_w 06:30 05:46 88 117
Dzhigit 06:33 05:15 80 106
paul.whitehouse69 06:42 06:56 103 137
GMcD 06:46 04:25 65 86
jon 06:49 05:58 87 116
Curarist 06:51 05:24 78 104
Tudds 06:53 05:00 72 96
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:00 06:04 86 114
JoeyC 07:04 04:34 64 85
Manveru 07:10 06:28 90 120
robinh 07:10 07:04 98 130
James P 07:12 04:06 56 74
uvofiz 07:13 06:15 86 114
janesa 07:14 04:30 62 82
Gussie 07:18 04:00 54 72
FraserH 07:18 04:48 65 86
Nangle 07:19 06:17 85 113
KenD51 07:26 05:38 75 100
tds 07:26 05:06 68 90
DianeRS 07:27 05:06 68 90
Dvynys Dvynys 07:32 06:04 80 106
robertbridge 07:35 07:01 92 122
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 04:54 64 85
DamienKnapma 07:38 04:38 60 80
Corymbia Corymbia 07:41 06:02 78 104
CrystalPip 07:44 05:30 71 94
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:46 04:29 57 76
ChrisBrea 07:51 05:02 64 85
1234 07:55 06:02 76 101
Jamie Fox 07:57 04:01 50 66
John Arnold 08:19 05:24 64 85
OldSolver 08:26 06:45 80 106
plett11 Plett11 08:27 06:29 76 101
vefatica vefatica 08:33 07:20 85 113
goblin 08:41 06:51 78 104
Templar Redux Templar 08:41 06:33 75 100
ulaca ulaca 08:42 05:36 64 85
crucihacker 08:43 07:29 85 113
Jeeves 08:43 06:33 75 100
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:44 07:53 90 120
m5harp 08:48 08:12 93 124
johndun John Dunleavy 08:50 06:39 75 100
kath 08:54 06:47 76 101
mattindoha 08:55 09:28 106 141
mjsaunders9 08:56 05:03 56 74
Cuppa378 08:56 08:44 97 129
hemantyd 09:00 11:26 127 169
Edprof 09:00 10:24 115 153
JeffHobbs 09:07 10:55 119 158
Doyler 09:10 07:49 85 113
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:15 07:45 83 110
crosswordian 09:23 05:53 62 82
gsriordan52 09:23 08:06 86 114
Coffell 09:35 07:12 75 100
jemcd33 09:44 06:59 71 94
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:45 06:23 65 86
Cryptique 09:47 11:19 115 153
mamster 09:50 05:27 55 73
annbrew 09:52 07:10 72 96
mich_punk 09:59 08:17 82 109
richardCV22 10:15 06:31 63 84
f4rch 10:22 04:02 38 50
piltdown man 10:23 06:31 62 82
alexngbr 10:33 08:38 81 108
Nuck_the_king 10:35 12:36 119 158
Birdingbob 10:51 08:08 74 98
The Mighty Salmon 11:01 06:47 61 81
TonyN6 11:07 07:38 68 90
phatman 11:09 07:11 64 85
paul.verney 11:13 13:52 123 164
simjt simjt 11:22 07:25 65 86
SMSEsq 11:27 11:25 99 132
Cedric Statherby 11:29 07:11 62 82
Dr. Memory 11:34 09:13 79 105
maisiemae 11:37 09:29 81 108
intentional rounding 11:42 09:17 79 105
E Bradford E Bradford 11:45 12:45 108 144
symbenall2 12:09 07:22 60 80
alistair.boere 12:17 06:57 56 74
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:21 07:58 64 85
rlowin2 12:23 09:40 78 104
martinr486 12:41 08:33 67 89
flashman flashman 13:01 10:00 76 101
tyrotim tyrotim 13:08 12:10 92 122
kapietro kapietro 13:09 10:27 79 105
The Real Steve Snackman 13:17 07:29 56 74
Rammy Trainor 13:21 10:00 74 98
chabuduo chabuduo 13:23 06:53 51 68
Richard the First 13:31 14:54 110 146
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:32 08:07 55 73
MichaelE 14:32 08:03 55 73
Mendes Mendesest 14:34 05:40 38 50
trish_tang 14:54 09:19 62 82
Muckypuppy 15:38 08:34 54 72
kfb20 15:54 09:38 60 80
domski 15:55 06:24 40 53
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:35 09:44 58 77
tomtom2 17:02 14:22 84 112
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 17:25 10:08 58 77
keithandginnybirrell 18:10 20:54 115 153
New Driver 18:29 08:35 46 61
TonyK 19:42 12:08 61 81
winelover 20:11 26:00 128 170
ian.shepherd 20:48 18:27 88 117
bangsar DearHector 21:07 14:07 66 88
maryht 21:14 21:43 102 136
pfalloon 22:05 07:29 33 44
Jean in Oxford 22:40 10:56 48 64
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 22:44 16:43 73 97
thechan 22:47 14:55 65 86
david 23:04 13:44 59 78
Damien Grover 26:22 08:55 33 44
Jay_W 40:00 20:52 52 69
mcfarl 46:42 24:05 51 68

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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