Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3058

Date 04 August 2025
Number 3058
Day of week Monday
NITCH 74
Count of ref solvers 81
Ref solvers excluded with errors 12
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3058

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

 

If you would like to help cover the costs of running the SNITCH site, please "buy me a coffee".

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
lili 02:08 01:34 73 98
Paul Gilbert 02:10 01:21 62 83
cmjhutton 02:16 01:39 72 97
verlaine 02:35 02:03 79 106
mistigris 02:37 01:43 65 87
Jason 02:41 01:35 59 79
Magoo 02:45 02:09 78 105
aphis99 aphis99 02:47 01:49 65 87
hilarym 02:51 02:01 70 94
Flimmy flammy 03:16 02:42 82 110
Ciolf 03:31 02:22 67 90
markdobell 03:32 02:13 62 83
Heyesey 03:35 03:49 106 143
Sheapey Sheapey 03:35 02:08 59 79
richard 03:37 02:24 66 89
Amoeba89 03:47 01:54 50 67
AlanS 03:50 02:57 76 102
Kinghedger 03:56 04:17 108 145
Deane Short 03:59 02:48 70 94
SimonAnthony 04:02 02:08 52 70
glheard 04:03 03:49 94 127
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:03 02:26 60 81
MikeOsborne 04:13 04:06 97 131
lickert 04:18 04:15 98 132
John Walsh 04:24 05:19 120 162
Bluejacket 04:25 02:39 60 81
Nigel1953 04:29 08:15 184 248
MK76 04:31 02:53 63 85
chindit 04:35 03:21 73 98
Roscoe 04:36 03:53 84 113
fshephe 04:36 04:04 88 118
lucyg43484 04:38 02:52 61 82
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:44 03:26 72 97
alexh 04:44 03:58 83 112
Freemers 04:45 03:57 83 112
Jon Delfin 04:48 03:20 69 93
scrabbler 04:49 03:44 77 104
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:49 03:20 69 93
andy 04:50 03:53 80 108
andrewlake 04:51 03:32 72 97
March 04:51 04:25 91 122
JayEm 04:51 04:34 94 127
cdb_100 04:51 04:08 85 114
d.middleton 04:52 05:12 106 143
Aly Duncan 04:54 03:20 68 91
Paul Bacon 04:55 05:21 108 145
canismiser 04:56 04:34 92 124
LouWeed LouWeed 04:58 03:57 79 106
Ed freshpot 04:59 03:33 71 95
neilr neilr 04:59 05:18 106 143
DunPangolin 05:00 05:19 106 143
Honggui 05:04 05:19 104 140
Aybee 05:07 03:25 66 89
Tibthorpe 05:08 03:57 76 102
nina s 05:09 03:53 75 101
Zander 05:11 03:39 70 94
ChuckB 05:13 05:01 96 129
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:14 04:07 78 105
AndyKnott321 05:15 04:15 80 108
rrricharrrd 05:18 03:22 63 85
Squallaby 05:18 04:10 78 105
Vannyx 05:21 04:17 80 108
Riche Riche 05:24 04:04 75 101
babka 05:25 03:58 73 98
esmeralda 05:28 03:30 64 86
whichcraft 05:28 03:17 60 81
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:32 04:17 77 104
Encota 05:35 03:51 68 91
Finzi 05:37 04:51 86 116
Rabbitoh galspray 05:38 04:26 78 105
chriswestontour 05:41 06:07 107 144
SBQuick 05:43 04:11 73 98
KarenR 05:44 04:11 72 97
RobR RobR 05:49 06:24 110 148
MrChumley MrChumley 05:50 04:23 75 101
Looch 05:52 03:56 67 90
Anomalospiza 06:00 05:54 98 132
dr.shred 06:05 03:27 56 75
Carol 06:08 04:33 74 100
PGooden 06:13 05:42 91 122
Rosron 06:17 05:05 80 108
julian_w 06:23 05:36 87 117
thewanderingeditor 06:23 04:31 70 94
hazyfantazee 06:24 05:03 78 105
Tudds 06:24 04:51 75 101
Dzhigit 06:25 03:40 57 77
Shabbo 06:29 04:08 63 85
Adrian Cobb 06:29 05:47 89 120
Curarist 06:30 05:16 81 109
jimwetzler 06:31 05:11 79 106
joseffjones 06:31 04:06 62 83
kate 06:48 05:49 85 114
DianeRS 06:49 05:58 87 117
valerian1967 06:51 05:13 76 102
mjsaunders9 06:57 04:59 71 95
James P 06:57 05:24 77 104
Nangle 06:59 05:07 73 98
DamienKnapma 07:13 04:56 68 91
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:14 06:37 91 122
robinh 07:16 05:44 78 105
Puzzleplease 07:20 04:56 67 90
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:20 05:57 81 109
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 04:38 61 82
Corymbia Corymbia 07:37 05:01 65 87
ChrisBrea 07:42 04:46 61 82
docg 07:46 07:20 94 127
Doyler 07:49 05:48 74 100
Sheen 07:58 05:50 73 98
Templar Redux Templar 08:14 04:28 54 72
John Arnold 08:17 07:07 85 114
hemantyd 08:23 04:26 52 70
johndun John Dunleavy 08:24 07:10 85 114
Jeeves 08:29 07:23 87 117
Cuppa378 08:38 05:57 68 91
goblin 08:38 06:42 77 104
mattindoha 08:42 06:12 71 95
Kernowdoc 08:43 06:33 75 101
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:43 06:43 77 104
m5harp 08:46 05:43 65 87
Mkgnao Mkgnao 08:47 06:06 69 93
vefatica vefatica 08:48 07:09 81 109
crosswordian 08:52 07:53 88 118
Peloton 08:56 07:28 83 112
nigelmzzz 08:59 05:29 61 82
gsriordan52 09:01 06:28 71 95
annikins 09:23 07:07 75 101
Calculator001 09:28 09:22 98 132
intentional rounding 09:33 07:59 83 112
Cryptique 09:34 07:46 81 109
Birdingbob 09:35 06:10 64 86
Chrisa9 09:38 06:11 64 86
Coffell 09:40 06:32 67 90
starstruck starstruck_au 10:11 06:45 66 89
CoxBurglar 10:18 06:58 67 90
symbenall2 10:35 08:36 81 109
russellcannon 10:43 06:33 61 82
Nuck_the_king 10:46 06:42 62 83
rlowin2 10:50 09:55 91 122
TonyN6 11:00 05:58 54 72
The Real Steve Snackman 11:09 11:31 103 139
Struwa Struwa 11:16 08:50 78 105
Cedric Statherby 11:21 08:37 75 101
simjt simjt 11:28 10:16 89 120
Pendrov 11:31 13:33 117 158
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 11:33 08:24 72 97
maisiemae 11:36 07:21 63 85
chabuduo chabuduo 11:52 05:45 48 64
Hugster 12:12 09:11 75 101
trish_tang 12:20 08:56 72 97
martinr486 12:24 06:47 54 72
suethepotterer 12:25 08:29 68 91
youngbaz 12:37 19:05 151 204
tyrotim tyrotim 12:52 10:27 81 109
ifincham2 13:08 09:56 75 101
Steve Wood 13:14 11:22 85 114
Muckypuppy 13:40 08:12 60 81
Mendes Mendesest 13:43 09:19 67 90
Mark from Ipswich 13:57 09:24 67 90
Charpentier 14:01 10:58 78 105
New Driver 15:06 07:04 46 62
james 15:23 06:46 43 58
RPE10538 RPE10538 15:57 13:39 85 114
danielbluebisson Blue92 15:57 09:26 59 79
thechan 16:16 11:51 72 97
harryjmm 16:25 08:51 53 71
tomtom2 17:27 11:59 68 91
david 18:18 14:20 78 105
Askani 18:24 16:45 91 122
TonyK 18:30 13:19 71 95
Damien Grover 18:38 08:24 45 60
ian.shepherd 19:07 12:13 63 85
Hazelnut 19:58 12:18 61 82
pfalloon 21:33 21:10 98 132
jlloyd4424 25:04 14:05 56 75
Flora Garden 25:14 17:00 67 90
shankar 28:37 14:54 52 70
kevinlimanta 33:11 13:59 42 56
Jikolp 39:16 32:18 82 110
andybry 40:31 19:52 49 66
stephenpmars 41:34 26:13 63 85
mcfarl 45:38 40:15 88 118
crossworder 46:41 40:06 85 114
revolting tonic 57:06 16:44 29 39

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.

Loading...
Loading...
Back