Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3022

Date 23 June 2025
Number 3022
Setter Oink
Day of week Monday
NITCH 88
Count of ref solvers 79
Ref solvers excluded with errors 6
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3022

* 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 01:56 92 104
Paul Gilbert 02:17 02:45 120 136
cmjhutton 02:19 02:18 99 112
Jason 02:33 02:40 104 118
verlaine 02:37 02:54 110 125
mistigris 02:39 02:22 89 101
Magoo 02:47 02:46 99 112
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 02:25 83 94
Flimmy flammy 03:11 02:59 93 105
Ciolf 03:39 03:21 91 103
markdobell 03:39 02:56 80 90
Heyesey 03:41 03:39 99 112
AlanS 03:54 04:16 109 123
Amoeba89 03:59 03:12 80 90
glheard 04:00 05:38 140 159
SimonAnthony 04:02 06:24 158 179
Kinghedger 04:03 04:17 105 119
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:07 04:53 118 134
Deane Short 04:14 03:48 89 101
lickert 04:15 03:43 87 98
MikeOsborne 04:16 03:40 85 96
Morphosis 04:29 05:01 111 126
MK76 04:34 06:13 136 154
chindit 04:35 04:56 107 121
tilbee 04:39 04:37 99 112
toots 04:39 04:10 89 101
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:41 05:01 107 121
cdb_100 04:42 03:08 66 75
Freemers 04:44 04:13 89 101
lucyg43484 04:44 06:00 126 143
EricK 04:45 03:22 70 79
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 05:14 109 123
Bluejacket 04:46 03:35 75 85
alexh 04:48 05:35 116 131
scrabbler 04:53 04:40 95 107
Jon Delfin 04:55 05:27 110 125
andy 04:55 05:19 108 122
canismiser 04:56 04:23 88 100
footballblue 04:56 05:19 107 121
andrewlake 04:56 04:24 89 101
d.middleton 04:57 05:12 105 119
fshephe 04:59 04:23 87 98
Ed freshpot 04:59 04:59 100 113
JayEm 05:00 04:21 87 98
Honggui 05:01 06:19 125 142
March 05:05 06:26 126 143
Aybee 05:10 04:03 78 88
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 04:25 84 95
Adelaider 05:14 03:44 71 80
Squallaby 05:17 05:36 105 119
ChuckB 05:19 04:58 93 105
Tibthorpe 05:20 03:56 73 82
alisonm74 05:21 04:40 87 98
Zander 05:22 04:42 87 98
cmcnsmith 05:24 05:51 108 122
Crossiant 05:33 05:38 101 114
AndyKnott321 05:34 04:20 77 87
Riche Riche 05:37 05:10 91 103
Finzi 05:39 04:54 86 97
esmeralda 05:39 03:44 66 75
whichcraft 05:40 05:06 90 102
Vannyx 05:45 05:15 91 103
Streaky Bacon 05:50 05:54 101 114
mw7000 05:51 05:37 96 109
chriswestontour 05:52 05:08 87 98
mcrossib1 05:52 06:46 115 130
Rabbitoh galspray 05:52 04:38 78 88
Encota 05:53 03:54 66 75
Looch 05:58 06:05 101 114
RobR RobR 05:58 05:59 100 113
KarenR 06:02 06:01 99 112
SBQuick 06:02 05:38 93 105
cath23 06:03 05:35 92 104
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 05:08 83 94
Rosron 06:13 06:56 111 126
PGooden 06:17 04:57 78 88
andrewfeist96 06:18 05:08 81 92
Anomalospiza 06:20 09:10 144 163
Onelug 06:22 03:52 60 68
thewanderingeditor 06:33 05:30 83 94
Shabbo 06:33 05:10 78 88
julian_w 06:34 06:31 99 112
hazyfantazee 06:36 06:51 103 117
paul.whitehouse69 06:36 05:28 82 93
Dzhigit 06:40 07:19 109 123
Tudds 06:43 04:40 69 78
GMcD 06:43 04:32 67 76
jimwetzler 06:44 05:33 82 93
ilan 06:51 05:45 83 94
mjsaunders9 06:57 05:14 75 85
Nangle 07:05 05:52 82 93
robertL 07:07 07:00 98 111
James P 07:08 07:13 101 114
valerian1967 07:14 08:32 117 132
uvofiz 07:15 05:40 78 88
Gussie 07:15 06:57 95 107
earlylight 07:20 06:16 85 96
robinh 07:25 05:47 77 87
Puzzleplease 07:29 07:18 97 110
DamienKnapma 07:33 07:19 96 109
Aldus 07:35 06:13 81 92
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 05:14 68 77
TomHerbert 07:36 07:39 100 113
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:37 07:13 94 106
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 08:43 112 127
Corymbia Corymbia 07:50 06:11 78 88
ChrisBrea 07:58 06:05 76 86
mjwiseman 07:59 06:42 83 94
martinede 08:02 07:38 95 107
plett11 Plett11 08:13 06:23 77 87
John Arnold 08:17 07:18 88 100
Sheen 08:18 03:30 42 47
jemcd33 08:23 06:18 75 85
ulaca ulaca 08:31 07:06 83 94
goblin 08:35 07:59 93 105
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 06:38 76 86
hemantyd 08:38 09:59 115 130
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 07:49 90 102
m5harp 08:47 06:08 69 78
vefatica vefatica 08:52 08:49 99 112
kath 08:52 11:55 134 152
mattindoha 08:56 09:15 103 117
crucihacker 09:03 06:53 76 86
Calculator001 09:05 08:30 93 105
MichelinPoitiers 09:07 06:15 68 77
RPY 09:14 10:40 115 130
gsriordan52 09:15 08:35 92 104
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:27 08:44 92 104
barracuda barracuda 09:30 09:27 99 112
Edprof 09:30 06:56 72 81
Coffell 09:39 09:38 99 112
Word Psmith 09:58 07:08 71 80
piltdown man 10:02 06:47 67 76
CoxBurglar 10:07 08:45 86 97
richardCV22 10:11 08:45 85 96
Cryptique 10:11 06:47 66 75
Birdingbob 10:26 07:03 67 76
phatman 10:36 08:22 78 88
starstruck starstruck_au 11:01 08:40 78 88
intentional rounding 11:07 06:11 55 62
symbenall2 11:11 12:51 114 129
TonyN6 11:11 09:44 87 98
simjt simjt 11:22 07:12 63 71
maisiemae 11:26 09:04 79 89
Cedric Statherby 11:39 10:57 93 105
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:40 15:20 131 148
E Bradford E Bradford 12:01 07:27 61 69
BertieVII 12:14 08:00 65 73
youngbaz 12:16 14:47 120 136
suethepotterer 12:48 12:14 95 107
martinr486 13:00 10:05 77 87
chabuduo chabuduo 13:01 09:14 70 79
ifincham2 13:13 12:41 95 107
tyrotim tyrotim 13:14 07:52 59 67
Hugster 13:39 12:04 88 100
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 08:29 60 68
Charpentier 14:33 17:52 122 138
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:42 12:58 88 100
Muckypuppy 15:01 10:59 73 82
Steve Wood 15:06 12:30 82 93
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 10:56 72 81
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 23:24 153 173
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:18 07:55 51 57
Xebeq 15:22 09:57 64 72
pfalloon 15:43 07:41 48 54
david.14587 15:57 09:47 61 69
thechan 16:03 14:57 93 105
Chrisa9 16:11 19:29 120 136
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:42 10:33 63 71
keithandginnybirrell 19:07 16:26 85 96
winelover 19:40 15:46 80 90
TonyK 19:42 17:25 88 100
Pontypandy 20:59 31:05 148 168
bangsar DearHector 21:22 14:20 67 76
IanV IanV 32:12 25:00 77 87
shankar 33:32 23:46 70 79
revolting tonic 37:51 29:55 79 89
mcfarl 46:48 36:13 77 87

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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