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 103
Count of ref solvers 81
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 02:19 109 105
cmjhutton 02:18 01:49 78 75
Jason 02:35 02:42 104 100
verlaine 02:38 02:56 111 107
mistigris 02:39 02:43 102 99
Magoo 02:46 03:15 117 113
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 03:02 106 102
Ciolf 03:37 04:18 118 114
markdobell 03:39 03:37 99 96
Heyesey 03:41 03:36 97 94
Amoeba89 03:55 02:43 69 66
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 04:16 101 98
lickert 04:15 04:53 114 110
MikeOsborne 04:17 07:03 164 159
chindit 04:37 05:15 113 109
EricK 04:38 04:05 88 85
Bluejacket 04:39 04:35 98 95
tilbee 04:40 04:53 104 100
Freemers 04:44 04:19 91 88
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 05:44 120 116
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 03:56 82 79
LuckOfLucien 04:48 05:01 104 100
scrabbler 04:51 04:51 100 97
Jon Delfin 04:52 07:18 150 145
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 05:23 110 106
andrewlake 04:53 06:38 135 131
fshephe 04:56 06:02 122 118
d.middleton 04:57 04:21 87 84
Johninterred 05:00 07:03 141 136
cdb_100 05:00 05:36 112 108
JayEm 05:01 03:50 76 73
Aybee 05:07 07:00 136 132
nina s 05:10 04:52 94 91
Squallaby 05:15 04:46 90 87
Tibthorpe 05:19 04:53 91 88
Vannyx 05:30 06:18 114 110
Riche Riche 05:32 05:17 95 92
rrricharrrd 05:32 06:50 123 119
Finzi 05:39 05:13 92 89
Encota 05:47 05:19 91 88
mw7000 05:48 06:06 105 101
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 04:17 73 70
SBQuick 05:54 05:27 92 89
KarenR 05:57 05:09 86 83
Looch 05:58 05:01 84 81
PGooden 06:15 06:05 97 94
dr.shred 06:26 06:26 100 97
Dzhigit 06:34 08:25 128 124
julian_w 06:35 05:53 89 86
Tudds 06:38 04:34 68 66
GMcD 06:38 07:35 114 110
Curarist 06:42 05:20 79 76
ilan 06:52 05:50 84 81
mjsaunders9 06:56 08:38 124 120
KenD51 06:57 10:55 157 152
uvofiz 07:01 10:22 147 142
James P 07:05 10:40 150 145
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 09:11 127 123
robertL 07:13 06:29 89 86
Jamie Fox 07:15 06:44 92 89
robinh 07:18 07:56 108 104
DamienKnapma 07:29 09:28 126 122
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 05:26 70 67
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 06:00 77 74
Doyler 07:49 07:58 101 98
ChrisBrea 07:51 10:11 129 125
Solving slo mo 08:07 08:43 107 103
plett11 Plett11 08:14 09:23 113 109
ulaca ulaca 08:25 09:25 111 107
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 10:05 118 114
john.brassey 08:30 10:46 126 122
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 09:42 111 107
goblin 08:43 08:46 100 97
m5harp 08:46 11:03 126 122
mattindoha 08:49 09:53 112 108
vefatica vefatica 08:56 07:22 82 79
crosswordian 09:00 11:23 126 122
nigelmzzz 09:06 08:37 94 91
Kernowdoc 09:08 11:43 128 124
f4rch 09:09 09:16 101 98
barracuda barracuda 09:28 10:50 114 110
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:31 07:43 81 78
Edprof 09:38 10:42 111 107
Solfynn 09:39 22:20 231 224
Word Psmith 09:43 10:42 110 106
annikins 09:51 09:56 100 97
Mike Mansbridge 09:53 08:16 83 80
piltdown man 10:06 14:40 145 140
intentional rounding 10:10 09:33 93 90
Birdingbob 10:12 12:34 123 119
Alias Noble 10:29 23:31 224 217
Laputan 10:47 08:42 80 77
starstruck starstruck_au 10:49 13:01 120 116
russellcannon 10:51 13:21 123 119
symbenall2 11:11 09:08 81 78
rlowin2 11:21 08:35 75 72
simjt simjt 11:21 11:37 102 99
paul.verney 11:23 12:39 111 107
Cedric Statherby 11:34 11:40 100 97
The Real Steve Snackman 11:38 16:13 139 134
alistair.boere 11:45 17:56 152 147
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:52 14:18 120 116
BertieVII 12:14 09:40 79 76
kapietro kapietro 12:39 17:30 138 133
Sonofjim 12:42 19:07 150 145
hectorslave 12:50 10:56 85 82
suethepotterer 12:51 10:03 78 75
tyrotim tyrotim 13:07 13:12 100 97
mpbthorpe 14:13 11:58 84 81
Muckypuppy 14:25 08:16 57 55
Steve Wood 14:31 11:21 78 75
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 20:33 138 133
Xebeq 15:13 11:13 73 70
pfalloon 15:15 12:29 81 78
New Driver 16:06 17:25 108 104
danielbluebisson Blue92 16:40 18:13 109 105
tomtom2 17:47 21:01 118 114
david 19:23 16:12 83 80
TonyK 19:27 21:47 111 107
pamelalewis51 23:10 14:32 62 60
maryht 23:25 24:28 104 100
mozbadel mozbadel 24:24 21:18 87 84
paulmcl 24:28 16:24 67 65
Flora Garden 25:01 29:30 117 113
jlloyd4424 26:32 45:38 171 166
IanV IanV 31:11 29:45 95 92
kevinlimanta 35:46 50:47 141 136
Jikolp 38:17 57:28 150 145
crossworder 48:57 58:30 119 115

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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