Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3056

Date 01 August 2025
Number 3056
Setter Asp
Day of week Friday
NITCH 124
Count of ref solvers 83
Ref solvers excluded with errors 2
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3056

* 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 02:03 02:15 109 87
lili 02:08 02:20 109 87
Paul Gilbert 02:10 02:44 126 101
verlaine 02:35 03:29 134 108
mistigris 02:37 03:11 121 97
Jason 02:41 03:04 114 91
Magoo 02:45 03:03 110 88
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:55 104 83
HoneyBadger 03:16 04:35 140 112
Flimmy flammy 03:16 04:40 142 114
Ciolf 03:31 03:39 103 83
markdobell 03:32 06:17 177 142
Heyesey 03:35 04:27 124 100
Amoeba89 03:47 03:41 97 78
Kinghedger 03:56 06:15 158 127
Deane Short 03:59 05:32 138 111
SimonAnthony 04:02 03:32 87 70
glheard 04:03 07:16 179 144
MikeOsborne 04:13 06:38 157 126
lickert 04:18 04:50 112 90
Bluejacket 04:25 04:57 112 90
EricK 04:27 06:26 144 116
chindit 04:35 07:04 154 124
fshephe 04:36 05:13 113 91
tilbee 04:38 04:59 107 86
lucyg43484 04:38 05:14 112 90
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:44 07:23 155 125
Freemers 04:45 05:54 124 100
Jon Delfin 04:48 05:34 115 92
scrabbler 04:49 05:03 104 83
andy 04:50 05:30 113 91
JayEm 04:51 04:38 95 76
cdb_100 04:51 08:20 171 137
andrewlake 04:51 06:09 126 101
March 04:51 07:04 145 116
Liari 04:56 05:09 104 83
LouWeed LouWeed 04:58 08:13 165 133
Ed freshpot 04:59 05:55 118 95
neilr neilr 04:59 05:20 107 86
Honggui 05:04 07:12 142 114
Aybee 05:07 07:56 155 125
Tibthorpe 05:08 05:41 110 88
nina s 05:09 07:35 147 118
Zander 05:11 05:39 109 87
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:14 14:00 267 215
Squallaby 05:18 05:41 107 86
rrricharrrd 05:18 06:48 128 103
Vannyx 05:21 07:18 136 109
cmcnsmith 05:22 05:59 111 89
babka 05:25 10:34 195 157
mw7000 05:29 06:58 127 102
Streaky Bacon 05:29 11:55 217 175
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:32 06:41 120 96
Crossiant 05:33 07:33 136 109
Encota 05:35 10:55 195 157
mcrossib1 05:36 08:31 152 122
Finzi 05:37 06:42 119 95
Rabbitoh galspray 05:38 05:31 97 78
SBQuick 05:43 12:04 211 170
KarenR 05:44 11:11 195 157
Looch 05:52 08:44 148 119
hopkinb hopkinb 05:59 11:21 189 152
Anomalospiza 06:00 09:25 156 125
Carol 06:08 08:31 138 111
PGooden 06:13 09:15 148 119
julian_w 06:23 07:38 119 95
thewanderingeditor 06:23 07:17 114 91
Dzhigit 06:25 12:31 195 157
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:26 12:11 189 152
Adrian Cobb 06:29 07:41 118 95
jimwetzler 06:31 07:45 118 95
jon 06:39 12:02 180 145
GMcD 06:41 09:38 144 116
ilan 06:48 04:41 68 54
valerian1967 06:51 15:07 220 177
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:13 89 71
James P 06:57 10:36 152 122
Nangle 06:59 08:47 125 100
Willie F 07:02 11:15 159 128
Jamie Fox 07:04 08:55 126 101
DamienKnapma 07:13 10:10 140 112
robinh 07:16 06:56 95 76
Puzzleplease 07:20 11:01 150 120
earlylight 07:24 08:08 109 87
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 10:22 136 109
Corymbia Corymbia 07:37 10:29 137 110
The Caffeine Kid 07:39 12:07 158 127
Dvynys Dvynys 07:41 08:12 106 85
ChrisBrea 07:42 08:59 116 93
Doyler 07:49 12:16 156 125
mjwiseman 07:49 08:43 111 89
plett11 Plett11 08:04 13:27 166 133
steve.laverock 08:06 09:29 117 94
Solving slo mo 08:21 09:11 109 87
hemantyd 08:23 12:17 146 117
johndun John Dunleavy 08:24 09:36 114 91
ulaca ulaca 08:24 11:00 130 104
jaraab 08:26 08:53 105 84
Jeeves 08:29 15:01 177 142
Cuppa378 08:38 10:54 126 101
goblin 08:38 10:30 121 97
mattindoha 08:42 09:53 113 91
Kernowdoc 08:43 14:17 163 131
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:43 15:11 174 140
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:47 09:56 113 91
crosswordian 08:52 12:27 140 112
raincloud 08:53 12:18 138 111
Peloton 08:56 07:23 82 66
nigelmzzz 08:59 13:04 145 116
gsriordan52 09:01 11:25 126 101
crucihacker 09:07 17:54 196 158
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:09 14:56 163 131
Married Admirer 09:17 13:46 148 119
dedly 09:18 11:14 120 96
mich_punk 09:19 08:00 85 68
barracuda barracuda 09:25 16:11 171 137
intentional rounding 09:33 11:10 116 93
Birdingbob 09:35 10:57 114 91
Coffell 09:40 10:45 111 89
Edprof 09:46 10:00 102 82
Alias Noble 10:15 12:29 121 97
CoxBurglar 10:18 23:17 226 182
TonyN6 11:00 10:44 97 78
The Real Steve Snackman 11:09 16:39 149 120
Captain Burnaby 11:10 10:07 90 72
simjt simjt 11:28 17:52 155 125
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:33 20:48 180 145
chabuduo chabuduo 11:52 19:07 161 129
BertieVII 11:55 11:16 94 75
Hugster 12:12 18:05 148 119
suethepotterer 12:25 26:36 214 172
tyrotim tyrotim 12:52 15:11 118 95
ifincham2 13:08 21:28 163 131
Steve Wood 13:14 18:46 141 113
mpbthorpe 13:19 37:52 284 229
Muckypuppy 13:40 20:23 149 120
Mendes Mendesest 13:43 12:55 94 75
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:54 26:54 180 145
david.14587 15:02 25:53 172 138
tomtom2 17:27 34:05 195 157
david 18:18 20:46 113 91
TonyK 18:30 27:51 150 120
paulmcl 21:08 19:03 90 72
pfalloon 21:33 16:58 78 62
dominic.c-b 21:38 26:17 121 97
jlloyd4424 25:04 47:47 190 153
Flora Garden 25:14 22:40 89 71
andrewthecrosswordgiant 28:25 34:20 120 96
kevinlimanta 33:11 23:00 69 55
crossworder 46:41 61:05 130 104

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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