Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3038

Date 11 July 2025
Number 3038
Setter Asp
Day of week Friday
NITCH 104
Count of ref solvers 75
Ref solvers excluded with errors 9
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3038

* 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 02:19 109 104
Paul Gilbert 02:14 02:36 116 111
cmjhutton 02:18 01:49 78 75
Jason 02:35 02:42 104 100
verlaine 02:38 02:56 111 106
mistigris 02:39 02:43 102 98
Magoo 02:46 03:15 117 112
hilarym 02:50 04:37 162 155
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 03:02 106 101
Flimmy flammy 03:11 04:13 132 126
Ciolf 03:37 04:18 118 113
markdobell 03:39 03:37 99 95
Heyesey 03:41 03:36 97 93
Amoeba89 03:55 02:43 69 66
SimonAnthony 04:04 03:03 75 72
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 04:16 101 97
lickert 04:15 04:53 114 109
MikeOsborne 04:17 07:03 164 157
John Walsh 04:27 04:30 101 97
toots 04:30 05:54 131 125
Roscoe 04:32 05:19 117 112
chindit 04:37 05:15 113 108
EricK 04:38 04:05 88 84
Bluejacket 04:39 04:35 98 94
tilbee 04:40 04:53 104 100
lucyg43484 04:41 06:39 141 135
Freemers 04:44 04:19 91 87
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 05:44 120 115
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 03:56 82 78
alexh 04:47 05:10 108 103
LuckOfLucien 04:48 05:01 104 100
scrabbler 04:51 04:51 100 96
Jon Delfin 04:52 07:18 150 144
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 05:23 110 105
andrewlake 04:53 06:38 135 129
fshephe 04:56 06:02 122 117
d.middleton 04:57 04:21 87 83
tiggis 04:57 05:20 107 102
Liari 04:57 04:44 95 91
Johninterred 05:00 07:03 141 135
cdb_100 05:00 05:36 112 107
JayEm 05:01 03:50 76 73
Aybee 05:07 07:00 136 130
nina s 05:10 04:52 94 90
Zander 05:14 06:05 116 111
Squallaby 05:15 04:46 90 86
Tibthorpe 05:19 04:53 91 87
babka 05:21 09:18 173 166
Vannyx 05:30 06:18 114 109
Riche Riche 05:32 05:17 95 91
rrricharrrd 05:32 06:50 123 118
esmeralda 05:38 06:51 121 116
Finzi 05:39 05:13 92 88
Crossiant 05:42 06:39 116 111
Encota 05:47 05:19 91 87
mw7000 05:48 06:06 105 100
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 04:17 73 70
SBQuick 05:54 05:27 92 88
KarenR 05:57 05:09 86 82
Looch 05:58 05:01 84 80
KET 06:02 08:31 141 135
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 07:08 116 111
PGooden 06:15 06:05 97 93
dr.shred 06:26 06:26 100 96
Dzhigit 06:34 08:25 128 123
paul.whitehouse69 06:34 06:09 93 89
julian_w 06:35 05:53 89 85
Tudds 06:38 04:34 68 65
GMcD 06:38 07:35 114 109
Curarist 06:42 05:20 79 75
hazyfantazee 06:43 07:43 114 109
jon 06:47 08:34 126 121
ilan 06:52 05:50 84 80
mjsaunders9 06:56 08:38 124 119
KenD51 06:57 10:55 157 150
uvofiz 07:01 10:22 147 141
James P 07:05 10:40 150 144
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 09:11 127 122
robertL 07:13 06:29 89 85
Jamie Fox 07:15 06:44 92 88
robinh 07:18 07:56 108 103
DamienKnapma 07:29 09:28 126 121
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 05:26 70 67
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 06:00 77 74
Doyler 07:49 07:58 101 97
ChrisBrea 07:51 10:11 129 124
Solving slo mo 08:07 08:43 107 102
plett11 Plett11 08:14 09:23 113 108
steve.laverock 08:14 09:04 110 105
ulaca ulaca 08:25 09:25 111 106
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 10:05 118 113
john.brassey 08:30 10:46 126 121
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 09:42 111 106
goblin 08:43 08:46 100 96
m5harp 08:46 11:03 126 121
mattindoha 08:49 09:53 112 107
vefatica vefatica 08:56 07:22 82 78
Peloton 08:59 08:07 90 86
crosswordian 09:00 11:23 126 121
nigelmzzz 09:06 08:37 94 90
Kernowdoc 09:08 11:43 128 123
f4rch 09:09 09:16 101 97
barracuda barracuda 09:28 10:50 114 109
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:31 07:43 81 77
Edprof 09:38 10:42 111 106
Solfynn 09:39 22:20 231 222
Word Psmith 09:43 10:42 110 105
annikins 09:51 09:56 100 96
Mike Mansbridge 09:53 08:16 83 79
piltdown man 10:06 14:40 145 139
intentional rounding 10:10 09:33 93 89
Birdingbob 10:12 12:34 123 118
Alias Noble 10:29 23:31 224 215
Laputan 10:47 08:42 80 76
starstruck starstruck_au 10:49 13:01 120 115
russellcannon 10:51 13:21 123 118
symbenall2 11:11 09:08 81 77
rlowin2 11:21 08:35 75 72
simjt simjt 11:21 11:37 102 98
paul.verney 11:23 12:39 111 106
Cedric Statherby 11:34 11:40 100 96
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 16:13 139 133
alistair.boere 11:45 17:56 152 146
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 14:18 120 115
E Bradford E Bradford 11:52 17:20 146 140
BertieVII 12:14 09:40 79 75
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 12:45 103 99
kapietro kapietro 12:39 17:30 138 132
Sonofjim 12:42 19:07 150 144
hectorslave 12:50 10:56 85 81
suethepotterer 12:51 10:03 78 75
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 13:12 100 96
mpbthorpe 14:13 11:58 84 80
Muckypuppy 14:25 08:16 57 54
Steve Wood 14:31 11:21 78 75
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 20:33 138 132
Xebeq 15:13 11:13 73 70
pfalloon 15:15 12:29 81 77
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:25 27:17 176 169
New Driver 16:06 17:25 108 103
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:40 18:13 109 104
tomtom2 17:47 21:01 118 113
david 19:23 16:12 83 79
TonyK 19:27 21:47 111 106
pamelalewis51 23:10 14:32 62 59
maryht 23:25 24:28 104 100
mozbadel mozbadel 24:24 21:18 87 83
paulmcl 24:28 16:24 67 64
Flora Garden 25:01 29:30 117 112
jlloyd4424 26:32 45:38 171 164
IanV IanV 31:11 29:45 95 91
kevinlimanta 35:46 50:47 141 135
Jikolp 38:17 57:28 150 144
crossworder 48:57 58:30 119 114

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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