Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3025

Date 26 June 2025
Number 3025
Setter Peridot
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 110
Count of ref solvers 78
Ref solvers excluded with errors 15
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3025

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

 

If you would like to help cover the costs of running the SNITCH site, please "buy me a coffee".

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 02:01 88 80
Jason 02:33 03:15 127 115
verlaine 02:37 02:35 98 89
hilarym 02:47 03:33 127 115
Magoo 02:47 03:53 139 126
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 03:35 124 112
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:09 98 89
markdobell 03:39 03:25 93 84
Ciolf 03:39 04:41 128 116
Heyesey 03:41 04:34 123 111
Sheapey Sheapey 03:50 03:23 88 80
AlanS 03:54 04:11 107 97
Amoeba89 03:59 05:11 130 118
SimonAnthony 04:02 10:06 250 227
Kinghedger 04:03 04:24 108 98
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:07 07:12 174 158
lickert 04:15 05:21 125 113
MikeOsborne 04:16 06:04 142 129
chindit 04:35 05:53 128 116
tilbee 04:39 04:38 99 90
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:41 05:48 123 111
cdb_100 04:42 07:37 162 147
lucyg43484 04:44 05:13 110 100
Freemers 04:44 05:19 112 101
EricK 04:45 05:42 120 109
Bluejacket 04:46 04:03 84 76
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:40 97 88
scrabbler 04:53 05:05 104 94
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 04:59 102 92
Jon Delfin 04:55 06:13 126 114
andy 04:55 06:31 132 120
andrewlake 04:56 06:06 123 111
fshephe 04:59 03:09 63 57
Ed freshpot 04:59 05:15 105 95
JayEm 05:00 04:28 89 80
Honggui 05:01 06:11 123 111
March 05:05 08:17 162 147
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 06:33 125 113
Squallaby 05:17 05:29 103 93
alisonm74 05:21 06:28 120 109
Zander 05:22 06:09 114 103
Crossiant 05:33 07:51 141 128
esmeralda 05:39 06:43 118 107
Finzi 05:39 06:26 113 102
whichcraft 05:40 04:42 82 74
rrricharrrd 05:44 06:38 115 104
Vannyx 05:45 05:17 91 82
Streaky Bacon 05:50 06:14 106 96
mcrossib1 05:52 08:06 138 125
Rabbitoh galspray 05:52 06:27 109 99
Encota 05:53 08:22 142 129
Looch 05:58 06:26 107 97
RobR RobR 05:58 05:32 92 83
KarenR 06:02 09:03 150 136
cath23 06:03 08:24 138 125
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 06:52 112 101
PGooden 06:17 08:14 131 119
Anomalospiza 06:20 05:42 90 81
Adrian Cobb 06:28 07:23 114 103
thewanderingeditor 06:33 06:12 94 85
Dzhigit 06:40 08:20 125 113
Curarist 06:43 08:33 127 115
Tudds 06:43 07:52 117 106
GMcD 06:43 06:53 102 92
ilan 06:51 06:43 98 89
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:50 98 89
janesa 07:04 06:31 92 83
Willie F 07:05 07:49 110 100
Nangle 07:05 10:38 150 136
tds 07:10 07:26 103 93
Gussie 07:15 09:20 128 116
uvofiz 07:15 09:05 125 113
earlylight 07:20 07:14 98 89
KenD51 07:21 07:07 96 87
Obrador 07:21 05:58 81 73
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:21 09:25 128 116
robinh 07:25 07:49 105 95
Puzzleplease 07:29 07:28 99 90
Jamie Fox 07:29 08:36 114 103
DamienKnapma 07:33 10:02 132 120
TomHerbert 07:36 08:35 112 101
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 08:02 105 95
1234 07:48 08:46 112 101
SlumdogEngineer 07:52 09:55 126 114
ChrisBrea 07:58 08:55 111 100
steve.laverock 08:05 09:50 121 110
plett11 Plett11 08:13 11:38 141 128
Sheen 08:18 09:48 118 107
jaraab 08:25 10:34 125 113
ulaca ulaca 08:31 09:25 110 100
john.brassey 08:33 10:04 117 106
goblin 08:35 12:00 139 126
OldSolver 08:35 07:31 87 79
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:37 10:38 123 111
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 07:30 87 79
hemantyd 08:38 08:16 95 86
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 09:04 105 95
Jeeves 08:41 10:26 120 109
Rosey6 08:45 09:28 108 98
mattindoha 08:56 09:24 105 95
nigelmzzz 09:00 07:25 82 74
Troothful 09:03 13:10 145 131
crucihacker 09:03 06:51 75 68
Calculator001 09:05 11:28 126 114
dec 09:10 11:22 124 112
annbrew 09:15 10:46 116 105
gsriordan52 09:15 08:31 92 83
f4rch 09:15 20:11 218 198
mich_punk 09:35 11:26 119 108
Coffell 09:39 15:24 159 144
hookyt 09:47 09:44 99 90
piltdown man 10:02 19:43 196 178
Cryptique 10:11 08:06 79 71
annikins 10:17 10:08 98 89
Alias Noble 10:18 09:22 90 81
Nuck_the_king 11:09 10:30 94 85
TonyN6 11:11 10:03 89 80
Cedric Statherby 11:39 20:04 172 156
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:40 14:48 126 114
Captain Burnaby 11:50 12:30 105 95
E Bradford E Bradford 12:01 09:37 80 72
alistair.boere 12:04 11:38 96 87
BertieVII 12:14 18:35 151 137
youngbaz 12:16 14:33 118 107
kapietro kapietro 12:46 10:49 84 76
martinr486 13:00 10:49 83 75
chabuduo chabuduo 13:01 19:07 146 132
tyrotim tyrotim 13:14 09:19 70 63
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 18:33 131 119
MichaelE 14:08 12:22 87 79
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:42 18:02 122 110
Muckypuppy 15:01 18:17 121 110
Steve Wood 15:06 12:38 83 75
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 16:18 107 97
kfb20 15:10 22:14 146 132
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 19:37 129 117
pfalloon 15:43 15:59 101 91
Holly O 15:53 16:35 104 94
thechan 16:03 15:33 96 87
Chrisa9 16:11 10:59 67 60
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:37 25:58 156 141
New Driver 16:43 20:57 125 113
tomtom2 17:31 36:16 207 188
winelover 19:40 26:48 136 123
TonyK 19:42 21:26 108 98
david 20:27 12:22 60 54
Pontypandy 20:59 23:27 111 100
dominic.c-b 21:45 35:37 163 148
pamelalewis51 23:16 35:02 150 136
Sotogrande1 24:54 22:54 91 82
mozbadel mozbadel 25:19 21:50 86 78
paulmcl 27:01 23:55 88 80
shankar 33:32 54:55 163 148
revolting tonic 37:51 45:32 120 109
Jikolp 40:56 64:12 156 141
mcfarl 46:48 62:50 134 121

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.

Loading...
Loading...
Back