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 123
Count of ref solvers 82
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 88
lili 02:08 02:20 109 88
Paul Gilbert 02:10 02:44 126 102
verlaine 02:35 03:29 134 108
mistigris 02:37 03:11 121 98
Jason 02:41 03:04 114 92
Magoo 02:45 03:03 110 89
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:55 104 84
hilarym 02:51 03:54 136 110
HoneyBadger 03:16 04:35 140 113
Flimmy flammy 03:16 04:40 142 115
Ciolf 03:31 03:39 103 83
markdobell 03:32 06:17 177 143
Heyesey 03:35 04:27 124 100
Amoeba89 03:47 03:41 97 78
Kinghedger 03:56 06:15 158 128
Deane Short 03:59 05:32 138 112
SimonAnthony 04:02 03:32 87 70
glheard 04:03 07:16 179 145
MikeOsborne 04:13 06:38 157 127
lickert 04:18 04:50 112 91
Bluejacket 04:25 04:57 112 91
EricK 04:27 06:26 144 117
chindit 04:35 07:04 154 125
fshephe 04:36 05:13 113 91
tilbee 04:38 04:59 107 86
lucyg43484 04:38 05:14 112 91
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:44 07:23 155 126
Freemers 04:45 05:54 124 100
Jon Delfin 04:48 05:34 115 93
scrabbler 04:49 05:03 104 84
andy 04:50 05:30 113 91
JayEm 04:51 04:38 95 77
cdb_100 04:51 08:20 171 139
andrewlake 04:51 06:09 126 102
March 04:51 07:04 145 117
Liari 04:56 05:09 104 84
LouWeed LouWeed 04:58 08:13 165 134
Ed freshpot 04:59 05:55 118 95
neilr neilr 04:59 05:20 107 86
Honggui 05:04 07:12 142 115
Aybee 05:07 07:56 155 126
Tibthorpe 05:08 05:41 110 89
nina s 05:09 07:35 147 119
Zander 05:11 05:39 109 88
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:14 14:00 267 217
Squallaby 05:18 05:41 107 86
rrricharrrd 05:18 06:48 128 104
Vannyx 05:21 07:18 136 110
cmcnsmith 05:22 05:59 111 90
babka 05:25 10:34 195 158
mw7000 05:29 06:58 127 103
Streaky Bacon 05:29 11:55 217 176
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:32 06:41 120 97
Crossiant 05:33 07:33 136 110
Encota 05:35 10:55 195 158
mcrossib1 05:36 08:31 152 123
Finzi 05:37 06:42 119 96
Rabbitoh galspray 05:38 05:31 97 78
SBQuick 05:43 12:04 211 171
KarenR 05:44 11:11 195 158
Looch 05:52 08:44 148 120
hopkinb hopkinb 05:59 11:21 189 153
Anomalospiza 06:00 09:25 156 126
Carol 06:08 08:31 138 112
PGooden 06:13 09:15 148 120
julian_w 06:23 07:38 119 96
thewanderingeditor 06:23 07:17 114 92
Dzhigit 06:25 12:31 195 158
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:26 12:11 189 153
Adrian Cobb 06:29 07:41 118 95
jimwetzler 06:31 07:45 118 95
jon 06:39 12:02 180 146
GMcD 06:41 09:38 144 117
ilan 06:48 04:41 68 55
valerian1967 06:51 15:07 220 178
mjsaunders9 06:57 06:13 89 72
James P 06:57 10:36 152 123
Nangle 06:59 08:47 125 101
Willie F 07:02 11:15 159 129
Jamie Fox 07:04 08:55 126 102
DamienKnapma 07:13 10:10 140 113
robinh 07:16 06:56 95 77
Puzzleplease 07:20 11:01 150 121
earlylight 07:24 08:08 109 88
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 10:22 136 110
Corymbia Corymbia 07:37 10:29 137 111
The Caffeine Kid 07:39 12:07 158 128
Dvynys Dvynys 07:41 08:12 106 86
ChrisBrea 07:42 08:59 116 94
Doyler 07:49 12:16 156 126
mjwiseman 07:49 08:43 111 90
plett11 Plett11 08:04 13:27 166 134
steve.laverock 08:06 09:29 117 95
Solving slo mo 08:21 09:11 109 88
hemantyd 08:23 12:17 146 118
johndun John Dunleavy 08:24 09:36 114 92
ulaca ulaca 08:24 11:00 130 105
jaraab 08:26 08:53 105 85
Jeeves 08:29 15:01 177 143
Cuppa378 08:38 10:54 126 102
goblin 08:38 10:30 121 98
mattindoha 08:42 09:53 113 91
Kernowdoc 08:43 14:17 163 132
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:43 15:11 174 141
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:47 09:56 113 91
crosswordian 08:52 12:27 140 113
raincloud 08:53 12:18 138 112
Peloton 08:56 07:23 82 66
nigelmzzz 08:59 13:04 145 117
gsriordan52 09:01 11:25 126 102
crucihacker 09:07 17:54 196 159
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:09 14:56 163 132
Married Admirer 09:17 13:46 148 120
dedly 09:18 11:14 120 97
mich_punk 09:19 08:00 85 69
barracuda barracuda 09:25 16:11 171 139
intentional rounding 09:33 11:10 116 94
Birdingbob 09:35 10:57 114 92
Coffell 09:40 10:45 111 90
Edprof 09:46 10:00 102 82
Alias Noble 10:15 12:29 121 98
CoxBurglar 10:18 23:17 226 183
TonyN6 11:00 10:44 97 78
The Real Steve Snackman 11:09 16:39 149 121
Captain Burnaby 11:10 10:07 90 73
simjt simjt 11:28 17:52 155 126
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:33 20:48 180 146
chabuduo chabuduo 11:52 19:07 161 130
BertieVII 11:55 11:16 94 76
Hugster 12:12 18:05 148 120
suethepotterer 12:25 26:36 214 173
tyrotim tyrotim 12:52 15:11 118 95
ifincham2 13:08 21:28 163 132
Steve Wood 13:14 18:46 141 114
mpbthorpe 13:19 37:52 284 230
Muckypuppy 13:40 20:23 149 121
Mendes Mendesest 13:43 12:55 94 76
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 14:54 26:54 180 146
david.14587 15:02 25:53 172 139
tomtom2 17:27 34:05 195 158
david 18:18 20:46 113 91
TonyK 18:30 27:51 150 121
paulmcl 21:08 19:03 90 73
pfalloon 21:33 16:58 78 63
dominic.c-b 21:38 26:17 121 98
jlloyd4424 25:04 47:47 190 154
Flora Garden 25:14 22:40 89 72
andrewthecrosswordgiant 28:25 34:20 120 97
kevinlimanta 33:11 23:00 69 56
crossworder 46:41 61:05 130 105

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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