Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3034

Date 07 July 2025
Number 3034
Day of week Monday
NITCH 77
Count of ref solvers 76
Ref solvers excluded with errors 8
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3034

* 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
Paul Gilbert 02:14 02:07 94 122
cmjhutton 02:18 02:09 93 120
Jason 02:35 02:39 102 132
verlaine 02:38 02:15 85 110
mistigris 02:39 02:25 91 118
Magoo 02:46 02:31 90 116
hilarym 02:50 02:51 100 129
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:49 98 127
Flimmy flammy 03:11 04:33 142 184
Ciolf 03:37 02:26 67 87
markdobell 03:39 02:48 76 98
Heyesey 03:41 03:03 82 106
Sheapey Sheapey 03:43 02:18 61 79
Amoeba89 03:55 02:49 71 92
AlanS 03:55 03:48 97 125
Kinghedger 04:01 03:22 83 107
SimonAnthony 04:04 04:02 99 128
glheard 04:06 03:53 94 122
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 02:51 68 88
Deane Short 04:13 02:33 60 77
lickert 04:15 04:30 105 136
MikeOsborne 04:17 03:18 77 100
Umpire 04:21 03:04 70 90
John Walsh 04:27 04:38 104 135
toots 04:30 03:39 81 105
Roscoe 04:32 04:27 98 127
MK76 04:35 03:19 72 93
chindit 04:37 03:56 85 110
EricK 04:38 03:09 67 87
Bluejacket 04:39 02:52 61 79
tilbee 04:40 04:06 87 112
lucyg43484 04:41 03:10 67 87
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 03:50 80 103
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 04:37 96 124
alexh 04:47 04:06 85 110
scrabbler 04:51 04:22 90 116
canismiser 04:52 04:55 101 131
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 05:24 110 142
andrewlake 04:53 03:37 74 96
Paul Bacon 04:54 05:25 110 142
andy 04:55 03:51 78 101
fshephe 04:56 03:57 80 103
d.middleton 04:57 04:14 85 110
Johninterred 05:00 04:33 91 118
cdb_100 05:00 03:00 60 77
JayEm 05:01 03:36 71 92
March 05:03 03:44 73 94
Ed freshpot 05:04 03:23 66 85
Honggui 05:06 03:37 70 90
Adelaider 05:06 04:41 91 118
Aybee 05:07 03:31 68 88
nina s 05:10 06:04 117 151
Squallaby 05:15 04:03 77 100
ChuckB 05:18 05:38 106 137
babka 05:21 03:28 64 83
AndyKnott321 05:27 04:44 86 111
Vannyx 05:30 03:49 69 89
rrricharrrd 05:32 03:51 69 89
Riche Riche 05:32 04:57 89 115
whichcraft 05:36 04:02 72 93
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:38 04:56 87 112
esmeralda 05:38 03:32 62 80
Finzi 05:39 06:42 118 153
Crossiant 05:42 04:18 75 97
chriswestontour 05:47 05:20 92 119
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 04:12 72 93
Gaius 05:53 05:08 87 112
SBQuick 05:54 04:03 68 88
Looch 05:58 04:28 74 96
KET 06:02 04:58 82 106
Anomalospiza 06:10 03:57 64 83
Carol 06:20 05:26 85 110
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:21 05:56 93 120
andrewfeist96 06:22 04:59 78 101
dr.shred 06:26 03:19 51 66
Shabbo 06:32 05:12 79 102
Adrian Cobb 06:34 07:16 110 142
Dzhigit 06:34 04:48 73 94
paul.whitehouse69 06:34 06:05 92 119
julian_w 06:35 05:16 80 103
robertbridge 06:36 06:00 90 116
Tudds 06:38 06:55 104 135
GMcD 06:38 06:31 98 127
Curarist 06:42 04:21 64 83
jon 06:47 05:31 81 105
Manveru 06:50 06:04 88 114
edwards.robert1 06:53 04:29 65 84
kate 06:53 05:48 84 109
CrystalPip 06:54 07:03 102 132
mjsaunders9 06:56 04:50 69 89
KenD51 06:57 04:21 62 80
uvofiz 07:01 05:44 81 105
janesa 07:03 07:01 99 128
James P 07:05 04:47 67 87
DianeRS 07:06 04:05 57 74
Nangle 07:08 05:01 70 90
Gussie 07:08 06:27 90 116
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 06:10 85 110
robertL 07:13 06:59 96 124
Jamie Fox 07:15 05:28 75 97
robinh 07:18 05:48 79 102
Aldus 07:23 05:43 77 100
DamienKnapma 07:29 04:42 62 80
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:31 04:23 58 75
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 05:17 69 89
garsoli 07:42 05:30 71 92
TomHerbert 07:44 07:52 101 131
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 05:21 69 89
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 05:46 74 96
Doyler 07:49 06:54 88 114
1234 07:51 05:12 66 85
docg 07:56 07:29 94 122
Solving slo mo 08:07 13:46 169 219
smalley552 08:08 06:18 77 100
John Arnold 08:12 06:21 77 100
plett11 Plett11 08:14 05:35 67 87
Sheen 08:15 06:52 83 107
ulaca ulaca 08:25 07:33 89 115
jemcd33 08:25 05:21 63 81
OldSolver 08:27 05:49 68 88
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 06:35 77 100
john.brassey 08:30 07:27 87 112
hemantyd 08:36 06:30 75 97
Jeeves 08:38 05:49 67 87
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 07:37 87 112
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:40 05:35 64 83
goblin 08:43 07:22 84 109
m5harp 08:46 06:49 77 100
mattindoha 08:49 07:24 83 107
vefatica vefatica 08:56 07:45 86 111
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:04 07:20 80 103
nigelmzzz 09:06 05:22 58 75
Kernowdoc 09:08 08:40 94 122
barracuda barracuda 09:28 06:00 63 81
annbrew 09:28 07:25 78 101
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:31 06:51 71 92
Dr_Bob 09:31 08:29 89 115
mamster 09:35 07:20 76 98
Solfynn 09:39 07:59 82 106
annikins 09:51 07:00 71 92
piltdown man 10:06 06:33 64 83
intentional rounding 10:10 05:19 52 67
Alias Noble 10:29 07:44 73 94
iholloway 10:45 12:21 114 148
Laputan 10:47 08:01 74 96
starstruck starstruck_au 10:49 05:28 50 64
russellcannon 10:51 06:55 63 81
Nuck_the_king 11:07 03:38 32 41
symbenall2 11:11 07:54 70 90
TonyN6 11:14 08:08 72 93
rlowin2 11:21 10:14 90 116
simjt simjt 11:21 13:09 115 149
paul.verney 11:23 11:48 103 133
Cedric Statherby 11:34 08:56 77 100
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 07:10 61 79
Dr. Memory 11:41 10:01 85 110
alistair.boere 11:45 10:10 86 111
Captain Burnaby 11:50 11:24 96 124
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 09:31 80 103
BertieVII 12:14 10:12 83 107
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 07:06 57 74
Sonofjim 12:42 07:49 61 79
Hugster 12:49 07:06 55 71
suethepotterer 12:51 09:03 70 90
martinr486 13:02 08:05 62 80
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 12:03 91 118
trish_tang 13:12 08:54 67 87
Chrisa9 13:20 06:25 48 62
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 12:40 90 116
Muckypuppy 14:25 09:25 65 84
Steve Wood 14:31 13:46 94 122
Guy Hatton 14:40 14:25 98 127
kfb20 14:58 11:39 77 100
Xebeq 15:13 09:25 61 79
pfalloon 15:15 12:44 83 107
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:25 10:02 65 84
horners1974 Jonathan Hornby 15:45 08:24 53 68
david.14587 15:55 10:00 62 80
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:35 13:02 78 101
tomtom2 17:47 09:15 52 67
TonyK 19:27 19:13 98 127
Askani 21:15 11:44 55 71
philby 22:00 15:30 70 90
dominic.c-b 22:21 12:10 54 70
pamelalewis51 23:10 25:42 110 142
judi 23:18 08:46 37 48
maryht 23:25 10:46 45 58
paulmcl 24:28 11:38 47 61
Tired_commuter Tired_commuter 24:33 20:52 84 109
Flora Garden 25:01 18:49 75 97
IanV IanV 31:11 18:24 59 76
shankar 33:03 15:32 46 59
revolting tonic 38:45 22:52 59 76
mcfarl 46:44 30:05 64 83
crossworder 48:57 27:55 57 74

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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