Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3057

Date 02 August 2025
Number 3057
Setter Dangle
Day of week Saturday
NITCH 78
Count of ref solvers 79
Ref solvers excluded with errors 1
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3057

* 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 01:34 76 97
lili 02:08 01:47 83 106
Paul Gilbert 02:10 01:47 82 105
verlaine 02:35 02:08 82 105
Jason 02:41 02:05 77 98
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 02:27 88 112
hilarym 02:51 03:16 114 146
Flimmy flammy 03:16 03:40 112 143
HoneyBadger 03:16 02:37 80 102
markdobell 03:32 04:07 116 148
Amoeba89 03:47 02:49 74 94
AlanS 03:50 04:54 127 162
Deane Short 03:59 02:36 65 83
SimonAnthony 04:02 03:15 80 102
lickert 04:18 03:46 87 111
Bluejacket 04:25 03:11 72 92
MK76 04:31 03:23 74 94
Morphosis 04:31 03:47 83 106
chindit 04:35 04:04 88 112
fshephe 04:36 03:39 79 101
tilbee 04:38 03:39 78 100
alexh 04:44 03:21 70 89
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:44 04:26 93 119
Freemers 04:45 04:34 96 123
Jon Delfin 04:48 02:51 59 75
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:49 03:50 79 101
scrabbler 04:49 04:54 101 129
JayEm 04:51 03:20 68 87
andrewlake 04:51 05:12 107 137
Paul Bacon 04:55 05:26 110 141
neilr neilr 04:59 04:21 87 111
Ed freshpot 04:59 04:46 95 121
Aybee 05:07 04:04 79 101
Tibthorpe 05:08 04:09 80 102
nina s 05:09 05:02 97 124
ChuckB 05:13 05:10 99 126
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:14 04:08 78 100
rrricharrrd 05:18 04:22 82 105
Squallaby 05:18 03:44 70 89
Riche Riche 05:24 04:23 81 103
babka 05:25 04:04 75 96
esmeralda 05:28 05:02 92 117
Encota 05:35 05:35 100 128
mcrossib1 05:36 03:52 69 88
Finzi 05:37 05:01 89 114
Rabbitoh galspray 05:38 04:17 76 97
chriswestontour 05:41 04:51 85 108
KarenR 05:44 03:56 68 87
RobR RobR 05:49 05:03 86 110
Looch 05:52 05:11 88 112
Anomalospiza 06:00 03:56 65 83
dr.shred 06:05 05:20 87 111
andrewfeist96 06:06 04:36 75 96
Rosron 06:17 04:28 71 91
Tudds 06:24 03:52 60 76
Dzhigit 06:25 04:14 65 83
Adrian Cobb 06:29 04:22 67 85
Curarist 06:30 05:36 86 110
jimwetzler 06:31 05:04 77 98
GMcD 06:41 04:47 71 91
kate 06:48 05:19 78 100
ilan 06:48 05:22 78 100
janesa 06:49 05:03 74 94
valerian1967 06:51 05:35 81 103
KenD51 06:54 07:29 108 138
James P 06:57 03:55 56 71
mjsaunders9 06:57 05:49 83 106
Nangle 06:59 05:59 85 108
uvofiz 06:59 05:23 77 98
Jamie Fox 07:04 04:27 62 79
DamienKnapma 07:13 04:49 66 84
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:14 05:49 80 102
Puzzleplease 07:20 05:59 81 103
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 07:09 94 120
nigel 07:37 03:47 49 62
Corymbia Corymbia 07:37 06:21 83 106
Dvynys Dvynys 07:41 04:47 62 79
ChrisBrea 07:42 07:31 97 124
mjwiseman 07:49 05:57 76 97
Sheen 07:58 05:44 71 91
john.brassey 08:04 07:36 94 120
plett11 Plett11 08:04 06:50 84 107
Templar Redux Templar 08:14 05:23 65 83
John Arnold 08:17 06:06 73 93
Solving slo mo 08:21 07:35 90 115
hemantyd 08:23 05:44 68 87
ulaca ulaca 08:24 06:06 72 92
johndun John Dunleavy 08:24 05:05 60 76
jaraab 08:26 07:18 86 110
Jeeves 08:29 07:48 91 116
Cuppa378 08:38 07:47 90 115
goblin 08:38 07:14 83 106
mattindoha 08:42 07:26 85 108
Kernowdoc 08:43 09:13 105 134
m5harp 08:46 05:45 65 83
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:47 08:26 96 123
FelicityTT 08:51 06:39 75 96
crosswordian 08:52 08:33 96 123
raincloud 08:53 07:38 85 108
Peloton 08:56 06:04 67 85
RPY 08:57 05:38 62 79
nigelmzzz 08:59 09:19 103 132
f4rch 08:59 04:59 55 70
gsriordan52 09:01 10:20 114 146
crucihacker 09:07 06:18 69 88
mich_punk 09:19 06:28 69 88
piltdown man 09:21 06:06 65 83
barracuda barracuda 09:25 08:42 92 117
intentional rounding 09:33 06:13 65 83
Birdingbob 09:35 07:38 79 101
Chrisa9 09:38 06:31 67 85
Coffell 09:40 06:32 67 85
Edprof 09:46 07:10 73 93
phatman 09:56 08:25 84 107
banni-wae 10:02 09:02 90 115
starstruck starstruck_au 10:11 05:50 57 73
Alias Noble 10:15 07:41 74 94
symbenall2 10:35 05:45 54 69
russellcannon 10:43 07:49 72 92
rlowin2 10:50 06:57 64 82
TonyN6 11:00 08:44 79 101
paul.verney 11:03 10:55 98 125
Cedric Statherby 11:21 13:50 121 155
simjt simjt 11:28 07:06 61 78
Pendrov 11:31 07:40 66 84
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:33 08:58 77 98
Dr. Memory 11:36 11:43 101 129
maisiemae 11:36 08:28 72 92
chabuduo chabuduo 11:52 10:07 85 108
BertieVII 11:55 10:07 84 107
alistair.boere 12:01 09:41 80 102
Hugster 12:12 07:30 61 78
trish_tang 12:20 06:56 56 71
martinr486 12:24 09:01 72 92
kapietro kapietro 12:25 10:14 82 105
suethepotterer 12:25 09:10 73 93
youngbaz 12:37 13:27 106 135
Steve Wood 13:14 09:27 71 91
Muckypuppy 13:40 08:04 59 75
vanderwaal 13:46 09:34 69 88
Mark from Ipswich 13:57 10:06 72 92
Charpentier 14:01 13:44 97 124
Xebeq 14:38 10:37 72 92
New Driver 15:06 06:20 41 52
james 15:23 07:48 50 64
RPE10538 RPE10538 15:57 09:23 58 74
danielbluebisson Blue92 15:57 10:00 62 79
thechan 16:16 13:49 84 107
Jean in Oxford 16:54 14:40 86 110
tomtom2 17:27 10:57 62 79
david 18:18 15:32 84 107
Askani 18:24 14:25 78 100
TonyK 18:30 17:07 92 117
Hazelnut 19:58 20:29 102 130
paulmcl 21:08 06:47 32 41
pfalloon 21:33 06:20 29 37
philby 22:00 19:38 89 114
judi 22:21 11:02 49 62
maryht 23:02 20:20 88 112
Flora Garden 25:14 17:03 67 85
kevinlimanta 33:11 17:16 52 66
mcfarl 45:38 35:22 77 98
jillanne 48:59 36:45 75 96

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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