Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3016

Date 16 June 2025
Number 3016
Setter Pipsqueak
Day of week Monday
NITCH 78
Count of ref solvers 73
Ref solvers excluded with errors 5
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3016

* 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
Paul Gilbert 02:17 01:58 86 110
cmjhutton 02:19 01:28 63 80
Jason 02:33 01:42 66 84
verlaine 02:37 02:29 94 120
mistigris 02:39 02:25 91 116
hilarym 02:47 01:48 64 82
Magoo 02:47 01:58 70 89
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 02:10 75 96
Flimmy flammy 03:11 02:48 87 111
markdobell 03:39 02:41 73 93
Ciolf 03:39 02:19 63 80
Heyesey 03:41 03:03 82 105
AlanS 03:54 02:53 73 93
Amoeba89 03:59 02:50 71 91
SimonAnthony 04:02 02:16 56 71
Kinghedger 04:03 03:59 98 125
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:07 03:48 92 117
Deane Short 04:14 08:10 192 246
lickert 04:15 03:16 76 97
MikeOsborne 04:16 04:27 104 133
Morphosis 04:29 04:12 93 119
MK76 04:34 04:03 88 112
tilbee 04:39 05:02 108 138
toots 04:39 03:44 80 102
John Walsh 04:40 03:49 81 103
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:41 03:43 79 101
cdb_100 04:42 03:49 81 103
Freemers 04:44 03:57 83 106
lucyg43484 04:44 03:41 77 98
EricK 04:45 03:56 82 105
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:07 86 110
Bluejacket 04:46 03:18 69 88
alexh 04:48 03:34 74 94
scrabbler 04:53 04:29 91 116
Paul Bacon 04:54 04:23 89 114
andy 04:55 03:49 77 98
Jon Delfin 04:55 04:01 81 103
andrewlake 04:56 02:53 58 74
canismiser 04:56 05:25 109 139
d.middleton 04:57 05:21 108 138
tiggis 04:57 03:09 63 80
Liari 04:57 04:03 81 103
Ed freshpot 04:59 04:59 100 128
fshephe 04:59 05:07 102 130
Honggui 05:01 04:13 84 107
Aybee 05:10 04:08 80 102
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 04:22 83 106
Adelaider 05:14 03:40 70 89
Squallaby 05:17 03:44 70 89
ChuckB 05:19 04:09 78 100
Tibthorpe 05:20 05:16 98 125
nina s 05:21 05:10 96 123
alisonm74 05:21 03:50 71 91
Zander 05:22 04:41 87 111
Crossiant 05:33 03:47 68 87
AndyKnott321 05:34 04:50 86 110
Riche Riche 05:37 04:42 83 106
Finzi 05:39 03:58 70 89
esmeralda 05:39 05:26 96 123
whichcraft 05:40 02:53 50 64
MrChumley MrChumley 05:43 06:32 114 146
rrricharrrd 05:44 03:29 60 76
Vannyx 05:45 04:31 78 100
Streaky Bacon 05:50 04:58 85 108
mw7000 05:51 03:45 64 82
chriswestontour 05:52 05:44 97 124
mcrossib1 05:52 04:15 72 92
Rabbitoh galspray 05:52 04:04 69 88
Encota 05:53 03:57 67 85
Looch 05:58 05:14 87 111
RobR RobR 05:58 04:18 72 92
KET 05:59 04:34 76 97
KarenR 06:02 04:58 82 105
cath23 06:03 04:34 75 96
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 05:44 93 119
PGooden 06:17 05:33 88 112
andrewfeist96 06:18 04:51 76 97
dr.shred 06:19 06:03 95 121
Anomalospiza 06:20 03:06 48 61
Carol 06:20 03:39 57 73
Onelug 06:22 05:28 85 108
Adrian Cobb 06:28 05:19 82 105
thewanderingeditor 06:33 04:35 69 88
Shabbo 06:33 05:42 87 111
julian_w 06:34 04:57 75 96
paul.whitehouse69 06:36 08:29 128 164
hazyfantazee 06:36 05:55 89 114
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:40 04:24 66 84
Dzhigit 06:40 04:54 73 93
Tudds 06:43 06:10 91 116
GMcD 06:43 05:35 83 106
Curarist 06:43 04:20 64 82
jimwetzler 06:44 04:54 72 92
jon 06:50 05:00 73 93
ilan 06:51 06:12 90 115
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:55 99 126
janesa 07:04 05:28 77 98
Nangle 07:05 05:32 78 100
James P 07:08 06:06 85 108
earlylight 07:20 06:11 84 107
Obrador 07:21 06:34 89 114
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:21 06:06 82 105
DianeRS 07:24 07:02 95 121
robinh 07:25 05:13 70 89
Puzzleplease 07:29 07:39 102 130
edwards.robert1 07:31 04:38 61 78
DamienKnapma 07:33 07:44 102 130
Aldus 07:35 06:31 85 108
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 07:20 96 123
docg 07:55 09:06 114 146
ChrisBrea 07:58 05:36 70 89
martinede 08:02 06:30 80 102
plett11 Plett11 08:13 06:18 76 97
Doyler 08:14 08:19 101 129
John Arnold 08:17 07:10 86 110
Sheen 08:18 06:03 72 92
goblin 08:35 10:22 120 153
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 07:18 84 107
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 05:09 59 75
Jeeves 08:41 06:53 79 101
alex.scordellis 08:42 08:38 99 126
Rosey6 08:45 06:23 72 92
m5harp 08:47 09:47 111 142
kath 08:52 06:31 73 93
vefatica vefatica 08:52 07:07 80 102
mattindoha 08:56 07:37 85 108
crucihacker 09:03 04:58 54 69
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:07 05:55 64 82
MichelinPoitiers 09:07 06:22 69 88
crosswordian 09:10 08:47 95 121
RPY 09:14 05:38 61 78
gsriordan52 09:15 07:33 81 103
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:27 07:40 81 103
barracuda barracuda 09:30 07:45 81 103
raincloud 09:37 07:31 78 100
mamster 09:42 07:06 73 93
Word Psmith 09:58 08:23 84 107
piltdown man 10:02 10:10 101 129
richardCV22 10:11 06:42 65 83
Alias Noble 10:18 08:51 85 108
Pauline Minter 10:20 06:48 65 83
Birdingbob 10:26 09:01 86 110
russellcannon 10:57 09:04 82 105
iholloway 11:00 07:34 68 87
starstruck starstruck_au 11:01 07:19 66 84
intentional rounding 11:07 07:47 70 89
Nuck_the_king 11:09 06:37 59 75
TonyN6 11:11 09:37 85 108
simjt simjt 11:22 09:12 80 102
maisiemae 11:26 20:46 181 232
Cedric Statherby 11:39 09:52 84 107
rlowin2 11:42 11:37 99 126
E Bradford E Bradford 12:01 10:22 86 110
The Real Steve Snackman 12:05 06:47 56 71
BertieVII 12:14 07:08 58 74
Richard the First 12:21 09:13 74 94
kapietro kapietro 12:46 10:50 84 107
suethepotterer 12:48 10:04 78 100
hectorslave 12:50 13:08 102 130
martinr486 13:00 10:44 82 105
chabuduo chabuduo 13:01 09:42 74 94
tyrotim tyrotim 13:14 08:31 64 82
trish_tang 13:33 06:28 47 60
Hugster 13:39 09:15 67 85
mpbthorpe 13:42 12:59 94 120
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 09:47 69 88
MichaelE 14:08 12:37 89 114
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:42 17:05 116 148
Muckypuppy 15:01 12:05 80 102
Steve Wood 15:06 08:41 57 73
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 12:14 80 102
kfb20 15:10 10:35 69 88
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 22:36 148 189
pfalloon 15:43 06:36 41 52
Holly O 15:53 22:06 139 178
thechan 16:03 15:02 93 119
Chrisa9 16:11 11:56 73 93
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:37 13:41 82 105
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:42 19:39 117 150
New Driver 16:43 14:18 85 108
tomtom2 17:31 15:32 88 112
keithandginnybirrell 19:07 12:53 67 85
winelover 19:40 16:09 82 105
TonyK 19:42 16:47 85 108
ian.shepherd 20:12 15:57 78 100
david 20:27 15:39 76 97
Pontypandy 20:59 15:23 73 93
bangsar DearHector 21:22 33:10 155 198
dominic.c-b 21:45 29:58 137 175
maryht 23:26 16:19 69 88
Damien Grover 25:28 09:02 35 44
IanV IanV 32:12 31:33 97 124
shankar 33:32 66:26 198 253
revolting tonic 37:51 33:33 88 112
kevinlimanta 38:50 22:49 58 74
Jikolp 40:56 27:34 67 85
mcfarl 46:48 42:09 90 115
crossworder 52:03 32:58 63 80

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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