Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3031

Date 03 July 2025
Number 3031
Setter Mara
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 100
Count of ref solvers 80
Ref solvers excluded with errors 6
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3031

* 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 02:07 01:49 85 85
Paul Gilbert 02:14 02:43 121 121
cmjhutton 02:18 02:29 107 107
Jason 02:35 04:39 180 180
verlaine 02:38 03:17 124 124
Magoo 02:46 02:32 91 91
hilarym 02:50 03:43 131 131
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 03:00 105 105
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:07 97 97
Ciolf 03:37 05:28 151 151
markdobell 03:39 03:03 83 83
Heyesey 03:41 03:12 86 86
Sheapey Sheapey 03:43 04:21 117 117
Kinghedger 04:01 04:45 118 118
SimonAnthony 04:04 04:30 110 110
Deane Short 04:13 03:16 77 77
lickert 04:15 06:08 144 144
MikeOsborne 04:17 05:08 119 119
toots 04:30 05:06 113 113
MK76 04:35 05:38 122 122
chindit 04:37 03:39 79 79
EricK 04:38 03:33 76 76
Bluejacket 04:39 06:09 132 132
Freemers 04:44 03:49 80 80
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 07:00 146 146
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 06:45 141 141
LuckOfLucien 04:48 04:15 88 88
scrabbler 04:51 04:37 95 95
Jon Delfin 04:52 04:23 90 90
canismiser 04:52 05:06 104 104
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 06:10 126 126
andrewlake 04:53 04:06 83 83
Paul Bacon 04:54 05:21 109 109
fshephe 04:56 03:57 80 80
Liari 04:57 04:52 98 98
cdb_100 05:00 04:04 81 81
JayEm 05:01 05:21 106 106
neilr neilr 05:02 05:33 110 110
March 05:03 05:43 113 113
Ed freshpot 05:04 06:06 120 120
Honggui 05:06 07:22 144 144
Adelaider 05:06 05:13 102 102
Aybee 05:07 06:58 136 136
nina s 05:10 06:44 130 130
Squallaby 05:15 04:27 84 84
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 05:30 104 104
alisonm74 05:18 05:22 101 101
ChuckB 05:18 05:35 105 105
Tibthorpe 05:19 05:04 95 95
babka 05:21 07:03 131 131
cmcnsmith 05:25 06:05 112 112
Riche Riche 05:32 04:46 86 86
rrricharrrd 05:32 06:05 109 109
Streaky Bacon 05:35 08:01 143 143
esmeralda 05:38 08:49 156 156
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:38 05:45 102 102
Finzi 05:39 06:18 111 111
Crossiant 05:42 05:27 95 95
mcrossib1 05:45 05:30 95 95
Encota 05:47 04:37 79 79
chriswestontour 05:47 05:55 102 102
mw7000 05:48 06:14 107 107
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 05:58 102 102
SBQuick 05:54 05:07 86 86
KarenR 05:57 05:21 89 89
Looch 05:58 05:22 89 89
KET 06:02 06:19 104 104
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 05:08 83 83
Anomalospiza 06:10 05:19 86 86
Onelug 06:17 08:25 133 133
Rosron 06:18 06:00 95 95
Carol 06:20 06:28 102 102
andrewfeist96 06:22 04:15 66 66
thewanderingeditor 06:27 05:53 91 91
Adrian Cobb 06:34 07:20 111 111
Dzhigit 06:34 06:50 104 104
robertbridge 06:36 08:06 122 122
Tudds 06:38 07:02 106 106
GMcD 06:38 08:22 126 126
ilan 06:52 07:19 106 106
CrystalPip 06:54 06:58 100 100
mjsaunders9 06:56 05:16 75 75
KenD51 06:57 07:40 110 110
uvofiz 07:01 08:41 123 123
FraserH 07:01 07:37 108 108
janesa 07:03 07:06 100 100
James P 07:05 06:14 88 88
Nangle 07:08 08:14 115 115
Gussie 07:08 07:08 100 100
robinh 07:18 06:33 89 89
Aldus 07:23 06:02 81 81
Puzzleplease 07:27 08:21 112 112
DamienKnapma 07:29 05:57 79 79
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:31 07:37 101 101
SlumdogEngineer 07:33 09:19 123 123
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 08:01 105 105
TomHerbert 07:44 06:56 89 89
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 07:22 95 95
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 08:41 111 111
1234 07:51 07:24 94 94
ChrisBrea 07:51 07:04 90 90
nigel 07:54 08:16 104 104
smalley552 08:08 05:50 71 71
John Arnold 08:12 09:00 109 109
steve.laverock 08:14 07:53 95 95
ulaca ulaca 08:25 10:25 123 123
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 06:58 81 81
john.brassey 08:30 09:07 107 107
alex.scordellis 08:34 09:22 109 109
hemantyd 08:36 09:32 110 110
Jeeves 08:38 07:00 81 81
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:40 09:47 112 112
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 07:23 85 85
goblin 08:43 10:01 114 114
mattindoha 08:49 07:24 83 83
RPY 08:52 09:41 109 109
MichelinPoitiers 08:55 09:04 101 101
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:04 08:17 91 91
dec 09:07 08:03 88 88
gsriordan52 09:08 10:21 113 113
Cryptique 09:10 16:54 184 184
barracuda barracuda 09:28 09:42 102 102
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:31 09:55 104 104
Solfynn 09:39 10:39 110 110
Coffell 09:48 10:42 109 109
annikins 09:51 10:57 111 111
phatman 10:02 07:13 71 71
piltdown man 10:06 09:49 97 97
intentional rounding 10:10 06:32 64 64
Birdingbob 10:12 10:20 101 101
Alias Noble 10:29 09:41 92 92
starstruck starstruck_au 10:49 09:32 88 88
russellcannon 10:51 09:34 88 88
Nuck_the_king 11:07 10:54 98 98
simjt simjt 11:21 11:52 104 104
rlowin2 11:21 05:01 44 44
Cedric Statherby 11:34 13:26 116 116
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 10:15 88 88
Pendrov 11:44 11:24 97 97
alistair.boere 11:45 15:25 131 131
Captain Burnaby 11:50 12:12 103 103
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 10:22 87 87
E Bradford E Bradford 11:52 08:05 68 68
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 08:35 69 69
kapietro kapietro 12:39 10:25 82 82
hectorslave 12:50 10:31 81 81
suethepotterer 12:51 15:12 118 118
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 15:24 117 117
trish_tang 13:12 12:32 94 94
nick.wilson 13:19 12:02 90 90
Chrisa9 13:20 06:52 51 51
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 15:45 111 111
Muckypuppy 14:25 14:21 99 99
Steve Wood 14:31 13:16 91 91
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 12:28 84 84
kfb20 14:58 08:45 58 58
pfalloon 15:15 10:18 67 67
Holly O 15:34 16:12 104 104
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:45 11:23 72 72
New Driver 16:06 25:59 161 161
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:35 17:51 107 107
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:40 16:00 96 96
tomtom2 17:47 22:09 124 124
david 19:23 18:24 94 94
TonyK 19:27 24:06 123 123
bangsar DearHector 21:12 14:38 69 69
Hazelnut 21:47 16:37 76 76
SilleG 21:52 45:26 207 207
philby 22:00 24:16 110 110
paulmcl 24:28 12:41 51 51
MrMonro 24:59 16:35 66 66
Flora Garden 25:01 22:06 88 88
jlloyd4424 26:32 11:37 43 43
shankar 33:03 24:35 74 74
kevinlimanta 35:46 19:44 55 55
Jikolp 38:17 52:45 137 137
revolting tonic 38:45 56:09 144 144

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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