Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3030

Date 02 July 2025
Number 3030
Setter Teazel
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 89
Count of ref solvers 78
Ref solvers excluded with errors 10
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3030

* 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
mohn 02:07 01:46 83 93
Paul Gilbert 02:14 02:32 113 126
cmjhutton 02:18 02:16 98 110
Jason 02:35 02:25 93 104
verlaine 02:38 02:35 98 110
mistigris 02:39 02:35 97 108
Magoo 02:46 03:12 115 129
hilarym 02:50 02:23 84 94
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:53 101 113
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:23 106 119
Ciolf 03:37 03:24 94 105
markdobell 03:39 03:18 90 101
Heyesey 03:41 02:49 76 85
Sheapey Sheapey 03:43 03:39 98 110
AlanS 03:55 03:51 98 110
Amoeba89 03:55 04:12 107 120
Kinghedger 04:01 03:58 98 110
SimonAnthony 04:04 03:39 89 100
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 02:46 66 74
Deane Short 04:13 03:15 77 86
lickert 04:15 05:05 119 133
MikeOsborne 04:17 03:36 84 94
toots 04:30 04:34 101 113
Roscoe 04:32 04:44 104 116
MK76 04:35 05:06 111 124
EricK 04:38 04:34 98 110
Bluejacket 04:39 04:44 101 113
tilbee 04:40 06:17 134 150
lucyg43484 04:41 04:19 92 103
Freemers 04:44 04:49 101 113
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 05:10 108 121
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 03:39 76 85
LuckOfLucien 04:48 05:36 116 130
scrabbler 04:51 04:24 90 101
Jon Delfin 04:52 05:22 110 123
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 06:07 125 140
andrewlake 04:53 04:40 95 106
andy 04:55 04:51 98 110
fshephe 04:56 04:12 85 95
d.middleton 04:57 05:16 106 119
Liari 04:57 03:53 78 87
cdb_100 05:00 03:23 67 75
Johninterred 05:00 05:15 105 117
JayEm 05:01 04:10 83 93
neilr neilr 05:02 04:46 94 105
March 05:03 04:41 92 103
Ed freshpot 05:04 04:05 80 89
Honggui 05:06 05:58 116 130
Aybee 05:07 04:36 89 100
Aly Duncan 05:07 04:56 96 107
nina s 05:10 03:43 71 79
DunPangolin 05:14 04:50 92 103
Zander 05:14 03:54 74 83
Squallaby 05:15 05:33 105 117
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 05:04 96 107
ChuckB 05:18 04:49 90 101
Tibthorpe 05:19 04:11 78 87
babka 05:21 05:41 106 119
cmcnsmith 05:25 05:44 105 117
Riche Riche 05:32 04:50 87 97
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:38 05:31 97 108
esmeralda 05:38 04:29 79 88
Finzi 05:39 04:54 86 96
Crossiant 05:42 05:46 101 113
chriswestontour 05:47 05:57 102 114
Encota 05:47 04:41 80 89
mw7000 05:48 07:02 121 135
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 05:26 93 104
KarenR 05:57 06:16 105 117
Looch 05:58 05:01 84 94
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 04:35 74 83
Anomalospiza 06:10 06:21 102 114
PGooden 06:15 06:00 96 107
Onelug 06:17 05:49 92 103
Carol 06:20 03:55 61 68
andrewfeist96 06:22 05:27 85 95
dr.shred 06:26 06:19 98 110
thewanderingeditor 06:27 06:42 103 115
Shabbo 06:32 05:25 82 92
Dzhigit 06:34 05:11 78 87
Kalakuta72 06:36 05:59 90 101
Tudds 06:38 05:37 84 94
GMcD 06:38 08:09 122 137
Curarist 06:42 06:05 90 101
ilan 06:52 08:16 120 134
edwards.robert1 06:53 04:06 59 66
kate 06:53 05:38 81 91
valerian1967 06:56 06:10 88 98
KenD51 06:57 05:41 81 91
FraserH 07:01 09:27 134 150
uvofiz 07:01 06:54 98 110
janesa 07:03 06:17 89 100
James P 07:05 05:14 73 82
Willie F 07:05 06:56 97 108
Nangle 07:08 05:31 77 86
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 06:28 89 100
Jamie Fox 07:15 07:19 100 112
Aldus 07:23 07:10 97 108
DamienKnapma 07:29 07:16 97 108
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:31 07:23 98 110
SlumdogEngineer 07:33 06:51 90 101
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 09:50 129 144
TomHerbert 07:44 07:32 97 108
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 07:32 97 108
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 08:13 105 117
Doyler 07:49 12:34 160 179
nigel 07:54 05:30 69 77
martinede 08:01 08:07 101 113
Solving slo mo 08:07 11:12 137 153
plett11 Plett11 08:14 08:17 100 112
ulaca ulaca 08:25 05:17 62 69
OldSolver 08:27 08:12 97 108
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 05:52 69 77
john.brassey 08:30 07:49 91 102
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 05:33 64 71
goblin 08:43 07:38 87 97
m5harp 08:46 06:55 78 87
mattindoha 08:49 09:04 102 114
RPY 08:52 11:30 129 144
MichelinPoitiers 08:55 06:28 72 80
crosswordian 09:00 06:50 75 84
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:04 07:14 79 88
Kernowdoc 09:08 06:36 72 80
gsriordan52 09:08 06:47 74 83
f4rch 09:09 09:46 106 119
crucihacker 09:11 07:32 82 92
raincloud 09:25 07:26 78 87
barracuda barracuda 09:28 11:28 121 135
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:31 06:52 72 80
Dr_Bob 09:31 09:28 99 111
Edprof 09:38 10:13 106 119
Word Psmith 09:43 09:24 96 107
Coffell 09:48 08:24 85 95
phatman 10:02 18:23 183 205
piltdown man 10:06 08:37 85 95
intentional rounding 10:10 08:26 82 92
starstruck starstruck_au 10:49 09:59 92 103
Nuck_the_king 11:07 09:35 86 96
symbenall2 11:11 11:13 100 112
TonyN6 11:14 09:21 83 93
rlowin2 11:21 11:36 102 114
simjt simjt 11:21 09:39 85 95
paul.verney 11:23 13:01 114 128
Cedric Statherby 11:34 08:10 70 78
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 16:14 139 156
Dr. Memory 11:41 10:30 89 100
alistair.boere 11:45 19:33 166 186
Captain Burnaby 11:50 09:25 79 88
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 17:12 144 161
E Bradford E Bradford 11:52 09:43 81 91
BertieVII 12:14 11:55 97 108
kapietro kapietro 12:39 11:33 91 102
Hugster 12:49 10:30 81 91
suethepotterer 12:51 09:49 76 85
martinr486 13:02 11:42 89 100
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 16:35 126 141
trish_tang 13:12 11:09 84 94
nick.wilson 13:19 10:46 80 89
Muckypuppy 14:25 10:02 69 77
Mark from Ipswich 14:31 18:33 127 142
Steve Wood 14:31 10:59 75 84
Guy Hatton 14:40 10:22 70 78
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 15:22 103 115
kfb20 14:58 19:13 128 143
james 15:08 36:47 243 273
Xebeq 15:13 14:19 94 105
pfalloon 15:15 11:35 75 84
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:25 14:42 95 106
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:45 08:24 53 59
New Driver 16:06 19:02 118 132
tomtom2 17:47 14:18 80 89
TonyK 19:27 20:05 103 115
bangsar DearHector 21:12 17:48 83 93
Hazelnut 21:47 17:00 78 87
philby 22:00 48:02 218 244
maryht 23:25 22:43 97 108
paulmcl 24:28 12:13 49 55
jlloyd4424 26:32 24:46 93 104
shankar 33:03 24:49 75 84
revolting tonic 38:45 59:08 152 170

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