Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3027

Date 28 June 2025
Number 3027
Setter Hurley
Day of week Saturday
NITCH 89
Count of ref solvers 79
Ref solvers excluded with errors 8
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3027

* 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 01:43 82 92
Paul Gilbert 02:17 02:37 114 128
Jason 02:33 02:20 91 102
verlaine 02:37 02:04 78 87
hilarym 02:47 02:40 95 106
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 02:40 92 103
Flimmy flammy 03:11 04:06 128 143
markdobell 03:39 03:00 82 92
Ciolf 03:39 03:52 105 117
Heyesey 03:41 03:32 95 106
AlanS 03:54 03:14 82 92
Amoeba89 03:59 02:52 71 79
SimonAnthony 04:02 03:02 75 84
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:07 02:49 68 76
Deane Short 04:14 04:15 100 112
lickert 04:15 03:31 82 92
MK76 04:34 05:20 116 130
chindit 04:35 04:21 94 105
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:41 05:14 111 124
lucyg43484 04:44 04:19 91 102
EricK 04:45 03:14 68 76
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:35 96 107
Bluejacket 04:46 04:37 96 107
scrabbler 04:53 07:38 156 175
Jon Delfin 04:55 07:21 149 167
andy 04:55 04:40 94 105
andrewlake 04:56 04:42 95 106
Liari 04:57 03:53 78 87
fshephe 04:59 03:48 76 85
Ed freshpot 04:59 05:10 103 115
JayEm 05:00 04:29 89 100
March 05:05 03:48 74 83
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:13 05:30 105 117
Squallaby 05:17 04:35 86 96
ChuckB 05:19 05:22 100 112
alisonm74 05:21 05:33 103 115
nina s 05:21 05:00 93 104
Zander 05:22 04:03 75 84
Riche Riche 05:37 06:07 108 121
Finzi 05:39 06:00 106 119
esmeralda 05:39 05:07 90 101
Streaky Bacon 05:50 04:18 73 82
Rabbitoh galspray 05:52 05:17 90 101
mcrossib1 05:52 04:31 76 85
Encota 05:53 04:21 73 82
Looch 05:58 05:11 86 96
RobR RobR 05:58 04:55 82 92
KarenR 06:02 04:42 77 86
andrewfeist96 06:18 07:03 111 124
dr.shred 06:19 06:28 102 114
Anomalospiza 06:20 04:39 73 82
Dzhigit 06:40 06:10 92 103
Tudds 06:43 05:01 74 83
GMcD 06:43 06:04 90 101
Curarist 06:43 06:15 93 104
jimwetzler 06:44 07:32 111 124
Nigel1953 06:45 08:49 130 146
ilan 06:51 07:51 114 128
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:47 97 108
Nangle 07:05 08:44 123 138
Willie F 07:05 06:18 88 98
James P 07:08 08:00 112 125
valerian1967 07:14 06:16 86 96
uvofiz 07:15 05:51 80 89
earlylight 07:20 10:46 146 164
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:21 07:15 98 110
KenD51 07:21 08:27 114 128
robinh 07:25 08:38 116 130
Jamie Fox 07:29 05:08 68 76
Puzzleplease 07:29 06:37 88 98
edwards.robert1 07:31 04:38 61 68
Aldus 07:35 06:32 86 96
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:36 07:17 95 106
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 08:06 104 116
Corymbia Corymbia 07:50 05:36 71 79
mjwiseman 07:59 05:56 74 83
plett11 Plett11 08:13 09:21 113 126
John Arnold 08:17 08:40 104 116
Sheen 08:18 07:57 95 106
ezoredfox 08:27 05:45 68 76
ulaca ulaca 08:31 06:29 76 85
goblin 08:35 08:30 99 111
johndun John Dunleavy 08:37 07:53 91 102
hemantyd 08:38 08:06 93 104
Templar Redux Templar 08:38 06:04 70 78
Jeeves 08:41 07:13 83 93
m5harp 08:47 10:21 117 131
Cuppa378 08:50 08:38 97 108
kath 08:52 12:26 140 157
nigelmzzz 09:00 11:06 123 138
crucihacker 09:03 05:18 58 65
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:07 08:27 92 103
crosswordian 09:10 09:35 104 116
f4rch 09:15 07:58 86 96
gsriordan52 09:15 09:04 98 110
FelicityTT 09:23 07:23 78 87
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:27 08:20 88 98
barracuda barracuda 09:30 08:03 84 94
Coffell 09:39 07:08 73 82
mamster 09:42 09:35 98 110
Poff 09:57 09:15 92 103
piltdown man 10:02 11:46 117 131
annikins 10:17 09:26 91 102
Alias Noble 10:18 08:25 81 91
intentional rounding 11:07 06:24 57 64
TonyN6 11:11 09:59 89 100
paul.verney 11:20 09:03 79 88
maisiemae 11:26 27:48 243 273
Cedric Statherby 11:39 08:43 74 83
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:40 12:26 106 119
rlowin2 11:42 13:28 115 129
BertieVII 12:14 08:55 72 80
kapietro kapietro 12:46 11:02 86 96
suethepotterer 12:48 09:35 74 83
martinr486 13:00 10:42 82 92
Hugster 13:39 15:49 115 129
mpbthorpe 13:42 13:21 97 108
domski 14:29 12:30 86 96
Charpentier 14:33 12:40 87 97
Mark from Ipswich 15:08 13:36 89 100
kfb20 15:10 09:24 61 68
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:12 12:29 82 92
Xebeq 15:22 12:26 80 89
pfalloon 15:43 07:31 47 52
david.14587 15:57 04:52 30 33
thechan 16:03 19:28 121 135
Chrisa9 16:11 09:08 56 62
james 16:38 14:02 84 94
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:42 14:23 86 96
New Driver 16:43 07:29 44 49
tomtom2 17:31 12:56 73 82
Jean in Oxford 17:45 14:48 83 93
TonyK 19:42 13:59 70 78
david 20:27 23:22 114 128
bangsar DearHector 21:22 12:29 58 65
Hazelnut 21:35 18:18 84 94
dominic.c-b 21:45 24:44 113 126
Askani 23:18 19:27 83 93
maryht 23:26 11:02 47 52
Damien Grover 25:28 27:50 109 122
paulmcl 27:01 33:00 122 137
DrAnatomist 30:56 26:02 84 94
shankar 33:32 20:41 61 68
revolting tonic 37:51 30:16 79 88
mcfarl 46:48 51:23 109 122

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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