Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3018

Date 18 June 2025
Number 3018
Setter Mara
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 77
Count of ref solvers 74
Ref solvers excluded with errors 15
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3018

* 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 01:28 64 83
cmjhutton 02:19 01:48 77 100
Jason 02:33 02:11 85 110
verlaine 02:37 02:25 92 119
mistigris 02:39 02:15 84 109
hilarym 02:47 03:02 108 140
Magoo 02:47 02:39 95 123
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 02:32 87 112
Flimmy flammy 03:11 02:30 78 101
richard 03:37 03:32 97 125
Ciolf 03:39 02:18 63 81
Heyesey 03:41 03:18 89 115
Sheapey Sheapey 03:50 02:42 70 90
Amoeba89 03:59 03:30 87 112
SimonAnthony 04:02 02:35 64 83
Kinghedger 04:03 03:09 77 100
Deane Short 04:14 02:31 59 76
lickert 04:15 03:45 88 114
MikeOsborne 04:16 03:15 76 98
Morphosis 04:29 04:17 95 123
MK76 04:34 03:07 68 88
toots 04:39 04:02 86 111
tilbee 04:39 03:34 76 98
John Walsh 04:40 03:45 80 103
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:41 04:04 86 111
cdb_100 04:42 03:11 67 87
Freemers 04:44 03:59 84 109
lucyg43484 04:44 04:57 104 135
EricK 04:45 03:56 82 106
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:42 98 127
Bluejacket 04:46 03:25 71 92
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 03:15 66 85
scrabbler 04:53 04:24 90 116
Paul Bacon 04:54 04:56 100 129
Jon Delfin 04:55 04:49 97 125
andy 04:55 04:11 85 110
canismiser 04:56 03:50 77 100
fshephe 04:59 03:20 66 85
JayEm 05:00 04:45 95 123
LuckOfLucien 05:01 02:56 58 75
Honggui 05:01 03:59 79 102
March 05:05 04:57 97 125
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 04:25 84 109
Squallaby 05:17 04:07 77 100
ChuckB 05:19 05:21 100 129
Tibthorpe 05:20 04:12 78 101
Zander 05:22 03:55 72 93
Crossiant 05:33 05:38 101 131
AndyKnott321 05:34 04:52 87 112
Finzi 05:39 04:48 84 109
esmeralda 05:39 06:08 108 140
MrChumley MrChumley 05:43 06:04 106 137
rrricharrrd 05:44 03:05 53 68
Penfold_61 05:47 05:08 88 114
Streaky Bacon 05:50 05:06 87 112
chriswestontour 05:52 05:11 88 114
mcrossib1 05:52 04:07 70 90
Rabbitoh galspray 05:52 03:57 67 87
RobR RobR 05:58 04:46 79 102
Looch 05:58 05:27 91 118
KarenR 06:02 03:59 66 85
SBQuick 06:02 05:59 99 128
cath23 06:03 06:15 103 133
Rosron 06:13 04:32 72 93
Mike C 06:15 04:28 71 92
Anomalospiza 06:20 03:27 54 70
Adrian Cobb 06:28 06:42 103 133
Shabbo 06:33 03:56 60 77
thewanderingeditor 06:33 04:13 64 83
julian_w 06:34 05:02 76 98
hazyfantazee 06:36 06:15 94 122
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:40 04:55 73 94
Dzhigit 06:40 08:18 124 161
Tudds 06:43 05:27 81 105
GMcD 06:43 05:14 77 100
Curarist 06:43 04:15 63 81
jimwetzler 06:44 07:20 108 140
Nigel1953 06:45 03:19 49 63
jon 06:50 04:30 65 84
ilan 06:51 06:11 90 116
CrystalPip 06:55 06:21 91 118
mjsaunders9 06:57 05:15 75 97
janesa 07:04 05:57 84 109
Nangle 07:05 04:08 58 75
Willie F 07:05 06:00 84 109
robertL 07:07 05:49 81 105
James P 07:08 05:59 83 107
Manveru 07:13 04:25 61 79
valerian1967 07:14 05:28 75 97
uvofiz 07:15 06:04 83 107
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:21 06:48 92 119
KenD51 07:21 04:23 59 76
robinh 07:25 06:51 92 119
Puzzleplease 07:29 05:27 72 93
DamienKnapma 07:33 07:06 94 122
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 04:23 57 74
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:37 07:12 94 122
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 06:52 88 114
Corymbia Corymbia 07:50 05:30 70 90
plett11 Plett11 08:13 08:57 108 140
Doyler 08:14 03:39 44 57
Sheen 08:18 05:08 61 79
ulaca ulaca 08:31 05:06 59 76
goblin 08:35 07:16 84 109
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:37 08:39 100 129
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 07:15 84 109
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 07:49 90 116
smalley552 08:40 06:54 79 102
Jeeves 08:41 07:59 91 118
m5harp 08:47 05:44 65 84
vefatica vefatica 08:52 10:56 123 159
mattindoha 08:56 07:36 85 110
crucihacker 09:03 08:13 90 116
Calculator001 09:05 09:23 103 133
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:07 08:29 93 120
MichelinPoitiers 09:07 06:53 75 97
RPY 09:14 09:38 104 135
gsriordan52 09:15 06:52 74 96
f4rch 09:15 07:03 76 98
barracuda barracuda 09:30 07:55 83 107
mich_punk 09:35 06:02 62 80
raincloud 09:37 07:58 82 106
Coffell 09:39 08:54 92 119
piltdown man 10:02 10:03 100 129
Married Admirer 10:04 08:08 80 103
richardCV22 10:11 07:40 75 97
annikins 10:17 07:22 71 92
Birdingbob 10:26 06:28 61 79
phatman 10:36 06:26 60 77
russellcannon 10:57 08:55 81 105
starstruck starstruck_au 11:01 07:30 68 88
Nuck_the_king 11:09 08:15 73 94
maisiemae 11:26 07:53 68 88
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:40 10:06 86 111
rlowin2 11:42 10:09 86 111
maggiema 11:56 11:59 100 129
E Bradford E Bradford 12:01 10:47 89 115
alistair.boere 12:04 09:01 74 96
The Real Steve Snackman 12:05 09:34 79 102
BertieVII 12:14 07:49 63 81
youngbaz 12:16 12:11 99 128
kapietro kapietro 12:46 10:11 79 102
suethepotterer 12:48 11:40 91 118
chabuduo chabuduo 13:01 11:33 88 114
ifincham2 13:13 12:40 95 123
tyrotim tyrotim 13:14 14:00 105 136
Hugster 13:39 09:09 67 87
mpbthorpe 13:42 12:03 87 112
Charpentier 14:33 11:58 82 106
Muckypuppy 15:01 09:30 63 81
Steve Wood 15:06 11:04 73 94
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 09:44 64 83
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 21:51 143 185
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:18 07:32 49 63
pfalloon 15:43 11:45 74 96
Holly O 15:53 07:18 45 58
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:37 12:00 72 93
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:42 19:09 114 148
New Driver 16:43 11:59 71 92
tomtom2 17:31 15:52 90 116
TonyK 19:42 13:00 65 84
Pontypandy 20:59 20:56 99 128
Dofray 22:06 09:08 41 53
philby 22:12 16:53 76 98
maryht 23:26 21:14 90 116
Aresbiscuits 26:54 25:40 95 123
revolting tonic 37:51 40:17 106 137
crossworder 52:03 31:28 60 77

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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