Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3017

Date 17 June 2025
Number 3017
Setter Jalna
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 101
Count of ref solvers 77
Ref solvers excluded with errors 4
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3017

* 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 02:20 102 100
cmjhutton 02:19 02:01 87 86
Jason 02:33 02:22 92 91
verlaine 02:37 02:54 110 108
mistigris 02:39 05:51 220 217
Magoo 02:47 02:38 94 93
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 02:49 97 96
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:33 111 109
Ciolf 03:39 05:00 136 134
markdobell 03:39 03:44 102 100
Heyesey 03:41 04:01 109 107
Sheapey Sheapey 03:50 03:44 97 96
AlanS 03:54 03:52 99 98
Amoeba89 03:59 04:08 103 101
SimonAnthony 04:02 03:53 96 95
Kinghedger 04:03 03:33 87 86
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:07 05:29 133 131
Deane Short 04:14 03:38 85 84
lickert 04:15 04:16 100 99
MikeOsborne 04:16 04:52 114 112
Morphosis 04:29 05:19 118 116
MK76 04:34 05:38 123 121
chindit 04:35 03:42 80 79
toots 04:39 05:33 119 117
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:41 05:53 125 123
cdb_100 04:42 04:51 103 101
Freemers 04:44 07:36 160 158
lucyg43484 04:44 05:04 107 105
EricK 04:45 03:47 79 78
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 05:10 108 106
Bluejacket 04:46 03:49 80 79
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 05:01 102 100
scrabbler 04:53 04:38 94 93
Jon Delfin 04:55 04:09 84 83
andy 04:55 07:09 145 143
andrewlake 04:56 06:28 131 129
canismiser 04:56 05:14 106 104
fshephe 04:59 04:41 93 92
Honggui 05:01 04:57 98 97
Johninterred 05:05 05:22 105 103
Aybee 05:10 04:49 93 92
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 05:58 114 112
Squallaby 05:17 07:00 132 130
nina s 05:21 05:58 111 109
Zander 05:22 05:29 102 100
Crossiant 05:33 05:30 99 98
AndyKnott321 05:34 04:41 84 83
Riche Riche 05:37 07:15 129 127
Finzi 05:39 06:39 117 115
whichcraft 05:40 03:43 65 64
rrricharrrd 05:44 06:41 116 114
Vannyx 05:45 03:13 55 54
Streaky Bacon 05:50 06:15 107 105
mw7000 05:51 06:51 117 115
mcrossib1 05:52 06:10 105 103
Rabbitoh galspray 05:52 06:29 110 108
Encota 05:53 06:12 105 103
Looch 05:58 05:03 84 83
KET 05:59 07:48 130 128
KarenR 06:02 05:14 86 85
SBQuick 06:02 04:36 76 75
cath23 06:03 07:51 129 127
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 06:31 106 104
Rosron 06:13 08:26 135 133
dr.shred 06:19 05:49 92 91
Anomalospiza 06:20 07:02 111 109
Onelug 06:22 06:33 102 100
Adrian Cobb 06:28 09:40 149 147
thewanderingeditor 06:33 06:00 91 90
Shabbo 06:33 08:01 122 120
julian_w 06:34 05:27 82 81
paul.whitehouse69 06:36 07:08 108 106
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:40 06:09 92 91
Dzhigit 06:40 05:58 89 88
Tudds 06:43 05:15 78 77
GMcD 06:43 06:54 102 100
Curarist 06:43 07:50 116 114
Nigel1953 06:45 03:10 46 45
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:48 97 96
Nangle 07:05 05:51 82 81
Willie F 07:05 06:41 94 93
robertL 07:07 07:04 99 98
James P 07:08 08:21 117 115
tds 07:10 06:39 92 91
Manveru 07:13 12:25 172 170
valerian1967 07:14 07:10 99 98
uvofiz 07:15 05:56 81 80
Gussie 07:15 07:18 100 99
earlylight 07:20 09:34 130 128
Obrador 07:21 07:29 101 100
Puzzleplease 07:29 08:59 120 118
DamienKnapma 07:33 10:25 137 135
TomHerbert 07:36 09:10 120 118
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 11:49 155 153
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:37 07:51 103 101
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 06:46 87 86
docg 07:55 07:39 96 95
ChrisBrea 07:58 08:54 111 109
plett11 Plett11 08:13 09:47 119 117
Doyler 08:14 06:38 80 79
Sheen 08:18 13:12 159 157
ulaca ulaca 08:31 08:58 105 103
goblin 08:35 08:01 93 92
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:37 14:28 167 165
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 09:20 108 106
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 06:31 75 74
hemantyd 08:38 07:28 86 85
Jeeves 08:41 10:15 118 116
m5harp 08:47 08:04 91 90
vefatica vefatica 08:52 07:35 85 84
mattindoha 08:56 09:12 102 100
nigelmzzz 09:00 11:13 124 122
crucihacker 09:03 08:23 92 91
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:07 08:57 98 97
MichelinPoitiers 09:07 08:01 87 86
crosswordian 09:10 07:55 86 85
RPY 09:14 10:48 116 114
gsriordan52 09:15 09:07 98 97
f4rch 09:15 09:48 105 103
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:27 10:09 107 105
barracuda barracuda 09:30 11:13 118 116
raincloud 09:37 09:00 93 92
Coffell 09:39 08:19 86 85
mamster 09:42 09:20 96 95
hookyt 09:47 08:25 86 85
piltdown man 10:02 11:35 115 113
richardCV22 10:11 12:28 122 120
Cryptique 10:11 08:07 79 78
annikins 10:17 08:18 80 79
Alias Noble 10:18 15:03 146 144
phatman 10:36 13:07 123 121
russellcannon 10:57 10:35 96 95
intentional rounding 11:07 05:53 52 51
TonyN6 11:11 11:04 98 97
simjt simjt 11:22 08:42 76 75
Dr. Memory 11:38 12:10 104 102
Cedric Statherby 11:39 15:07 129 127
E Bradford E Bradford 12:01 11:40 97 96
alistair.boere 12:04 09:01 74 73
The Real Steve Snackman 12:05 14:37 120 118
BertieVII 12:14 11:42 95 94
youngbaz 12:16 11:05 90 89
Richard the First 12:21 14:27 117 115
Sonofjim 12:34 14:46 117 115
kapietro kapietro 12:46 15:46 123 121
ifincham2 13:13 11:33 87 86
tyrotim tyrotim 13:14 11:37 87 86
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 14:00 99 98
MichaelE 14:08 18:11 128 126
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:42 20:20 138 136
Muckypuppy 15:01 18:10 120 118
Steve Wood 15:06 12:24 82 81
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 16:46 110 108
kfb20 15:10 19:38 129 127
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 13:08 86 85
Xebeq 15:22 19:09 124 122
pfalloon 15:43 12:50 81 80
david.14587 15:57 21:04 132 130
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:37 21:26 128 126
james 16:38 12:54 77 76
New Driver 16:43 24:24 145 143
tomtom2 17:31 19:51 113 111
TonyK 19:42 20:55 106 104
ian.shepherd 20:12 21:13 105 103
david 20:27 13:46 67 66
bangsar DearHector 21:22 22:36 105 103
philby 22:12 27:29 123 121
pamelalewis51 23:16 19:01 81 80
maryht 23:26 20:59 89 88
Flora Garden 25:34 19:38 76 75
paulmcl 27:01 14:23 53 52
revolting tonic 37:51 31:08 82 81
mcfarl 46:48 44:35 95 94

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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