Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3013

Date 12 June 2025
Number 3013
Setter Asp
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 92
Count of ref solvers 75
Ref solvers excluded with errors 9
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3013

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

 

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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 02:05 01:49 87 94
Paul Gilbert 02:17 02:19 101 109
cmjhutton 02:19 01:59 85 92
Jason 02:33 02:24 94 102
verlaine 02:37 02:55 111 120
mistigris 02:39 02:24 90 97
Magoo 02:47 02:56 105 114
hilarym 02:47 03:25 122 132
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 02:14 77 83
Flimmy flammy 03:11 04:07 129 140
Ciolf 03:39 02:45 75 81
markdobell 03:39 03:06 84 91
Heyesey 03:41 03:37 98 106
AlanS 03:54 03:47 97 105
Amoeba89 03:59 02:43 68 73
SimonAnthony 04:02 02:27 60 65
Kinghedger 04:03 03:43 91 98
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:07 03:34 86 93
Deane Short 04:14 03:19 78 84
lickert 04:15 04:00 94 102
MikeOsborne 04:16 03:59 93 101
Morphosis 04:29 04:08 92 100
MK76 04:34 04:55 107 116
chindit 04:35 03:00 65 70
tilbee 04:39 04:33 97 105
cdb_100 04:42 38:22 816 886
Freemers 04:44 04:57 104 113
lucyg43484 04:44 04:33 96 104
EricK 04:45 03:54 82 89
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 06:08 128 139
Bluejacket 04:46 06:09 129 140
alexh 04:48 05:55 123 133
Glencairn 04:52 04:28 91 98
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 04:28 91 98
scrabbler 04:53 06:02 123 133
andy 04:55 05:02 102 110
Jon Delfin 04:55 03:24 69 75
andrewlake 04:56 04:53 98 106
canismiser 04:56 04:58 100 108
footballblue 04:56 05:04 102 110
d.middleton 04:57 04:43 95 103
Ed freshpot 04:59 06:31 130 141
JayEm 05:00 04:19 86 93
Honggui 05:01 06:25 127 138
Johninterred 05:05 04:12 82 89
March 05:05 04:32 89 96
neilr neilr 05:07 04:20 84 91
Aybee 05:10 04:30 87 94
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 04:51 92 100
Adelaider 05:14 04:08 78 84
Squallaby 05:17 04:13 79 85
ChuckB 05:19 05:20 100 108
Tibthorpe 05:20 05:39 105 114
nina s 05:21 05:08 95 103
Zander 05:22 06:02 112 121
cmcnsmith 05:24 06:19 116 126
Crossiant 05:33 04:38 83 90
Finzi 05:39 05:54 104 113
whichcraft 05:40 05:25 95 103
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:43 05:56 103 111
rrricharrrd 05:44 03:52 67 72
Vannyx 05:45 06:09 106 115
Streaky Bacon 05:50 05:47 99 107
mw7000 05:51 04:33 77 83
chriswestontour 05:52 06:25 109 118
mcrossib1 05:52 05:41 96 104
Encota 05:53 05:52 99 107
Looch 05:58 07:03 118 128
RobR RobR 05:58 05:06 85 92
KarenR 06:02 05:52 97 105
cath23 06:03 05:32 91 98
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 09:00 147 159
Gaius 06:12 06:45 108 117
Mike C 06:15 06:19 101 109
andrewfeist96 06:18 13:26 213 231
dr.shred 06:19 06:52 108 117
Anomalospiza 06:20 05:01 79 85
Adrian Cobb 06:28 07:02 108 117
julian_w 06:34 07:31 114 123
paul.whitehouse69 06:36 07:26 112 121
Dzhigit 06:40 07:10 107 116
Tudds 06:43 04:56 73 79
GMcD 06:43 05:53 87 94
Curarist 06:43 06:08 91 98
jimwetzler 06:44 06:29 96 104
ilan 06:51 08:10 119 129
kate 06:54 07:34 109 118
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:49 98 106
janesa 07:04 06:22 90 97
Nangle 07:05 07:58 112 121
robertL 07:07 08:47 123 133
James P 07:08 05:59 83 90
valerian1967 07:14 08:07 112 121
earlylight 07:20 05:15 71 77
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:21 05:53 80 86
KenD51 07:21 05:18 72 78
robinh 07:25 05:31 74 80
Jamie Fox 07:29 06:58 93 101
Puzzleplease 07:29 08:45 116 126
DamienKnapma 07:33 06:22 84 91
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 06:11 81 88
TomHerbert 07:36 06:33 86 93
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:37 08:03 105 114
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 06:30 83 90
Corymbia Corymbia 07:50 10:53 138 150
ChrisBrea 07:58 06:05 76 82
mjwiseman 07:59 07:34 94 102
martinede 08:02 07:32 93 101
plett11 Plett11 08:13 07:42 93 101
Doyler 08:14 04:24 53 57
John Arnold 08:17 07:15 87 94
ulaca ulaca 08:31 09:48 115 125
john.brassey 08:33 12:03 140 152
goblin 08:35 07:24 86 93
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:37 12:24 143 155
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 11:36 134 145
hemantyd 08:38 06:49 78 84
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 08:22 96 104
smalley552 08:40 07:41 88 95
Jeeves 08:41 08:11 94 102
m5harp 08:47 09:40 110 119
Cuppa378 08:50 08:06 91 98
vefatica vefatica 08:52 07:52 88 95
mattindoha 08:56 07:28 83 90
nigelmzzz 09:00 11:53 132 143
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:07 09:43 106 115
MichelinPoitiers 09:07 08:04 88 95
crosswordian 09:10 09:39 105 114
RPY 09:14 09:13 99 107
gsriordan52 09:15 06:35 71 77
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:27 09:01 95 103
barracuda barracuda 09:30 09:04 95 103
raincloud 09:37 08:51 92 100
Coffell 09:39 10:34 109 118
richardCV22 10:11 09:52 96 104
annikins 10:17 08:34 83 90
Alias Noble 10:18 09:28 91 98
phatman 10:36 07:35 71 77
russellcannon 10:57 11:45 107 116
starstruck starstruck_au 11:01 10:17 93 101
intentional rounding 11:07 07:23 66 71
Nuck_the_king 11:09 17:58 161 175
TonyN6 11:11 13:04 116 126
Pendrov 11:17 14:59 132 143
simjt simjt 11:22 11:26 100 108
maisiemae 11:26 08:53 77 83
Cedric Statherby 11:39 15:29 132 143
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:40 14:55 127 138
BertieVII 12:14 11:56 97 105
suethepotterer 12:48 13:25 104 113
hectorslave 12:50 12:56 100 108
chabuduo chabuduo 13:01 09:21 71 77
ifincham2 13:13 11:45 88 95
trish_tang 13:33 09:54 73 79
Hugster 13:39 15:48 115 125
nick.wilson 13:48 12:39 91 98
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 21:21 151 164
Muckypuppy 15:01 11:00 73 79
Steve Wood 15:06 22:14 147 159
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 13:57 92 100
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 15:02 98 106
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:18 12:04 78 84
Xebeq 15:22 20:46 135 146
pfalloon 15:43 16:36 105 114
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:37 20:03 120 130
New Driver 16:43 14:41 87 94
tomtom2 17:31 25:30 145 157
TonyK 19:42 21:28 108 117
ian.shepherd 20:12 16:14 80 86
bangsar DearHector 21:22 17:58 84 91
Hazelnut 21:35 24:17 112 121
philby 22:12 16:32 74 80
Flora Garden 25:34 22:01 86 93
shankar 33:32 64:37 192 208
revolting tonic 37:51 47:36 125 135
kevinlimanta 38:50 29:47 76 82
Jikolp 40:56 59:11 144 156
mcfarl 46:48 37:39 80 86
crossworder 52:03 57:44 110 119

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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