Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3053

Date 29 July 2025
Number 3053
Setter Wurm
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 94
Count of ref solvers 74
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3053

* 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
Paul Gilbert 02:14 02:56 131 139
cmjhutton 02:18 02:07 92 97
Jason 02:35 01:53 72 76
verlaine 02:38 03:38 137 145
mistigris 02:39 02:25 91 96
Magoo 02:46 02:20 84 89
hilarym 02:50 03:14 114 121
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:25 84 89
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:35 112 119
Ciolf 03:37 03:56 108 114
richard 03:37 04:27 123 130
markdobell 03:39 03:36 98 104
Heyesey 03:41 03:12 86 91
Sheapey Sheapey 03:43 03:18 88 93
Amoeba89 03:55 02:44 69 73
AlanS 03:55 05:00 127 135
Kinghedger 04:01 03:37 90 95
SimonAnthony 04:04 03:09 77 81
glheard 04:06 03:48 92 97
lickert 04:15 03:50 90 95
MikeOsborne 04:17 05:02 117 124
John Walsh 04:27 04:52 109 115
Morphosis 04:28 04:26 99 105
Roscoe 04:32 04:14 93 98
MK76 04:35 04:45 103 109
chindit 04:37 04:16 92 97
EricK 04:38 03:37 78 82
Bluejacket 04:39 05:13 112 119
tilbee 04:40 04:35 98 104
lucyg43484 04:41 04:30 96 102
Freemers 04:44 04:57 104 110
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:14 88 93
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 05:48 121 128
alexh 04:47 04:28 93 98
scrabbler 04:51 04:53 100 106
Jon Delfin 04:52 04:38 95 101
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 03:17 67 71
Paul Bacon 04:54 05:28 111 118
andy 04:55 04:15 86 91
fshephe 04:56 04:32 91 96
tiggis 04:57 03:59 80 85
Liari 04:57 04:36 92 97
cdb_100 05:00 03:33 71 75
JayEm 05:01 04:55 98 104
neilr neilr 05:02 04:41 93 98
March 05:03 06:02 119 126
Aybee 05:07 06:30 127 135
nina s 05:10 05:04 98 104
Zander 05:14 04:26 84 89
Squallaby 05:15 04:43 89 94
ChuckB 05:18 05:05 95 101
Tibthorpe 05:19 06:10 115 122
Vannyx 05:30 04:09 75 79
rrricharrrd 05:32 04:07 74 78
Streaky Bacon 05:35 06:21 113 120
whichcraft 05:36 06:01 107 113
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:38 05:03 89 94
Finzi 05:39 06:26 113 120
Encota 05:47 04:58 85 90
chriswestontour 05:47 06:35 113 120
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 05:09 88 93
Gaius 05:53 05:26 92 97
SBQuick 05:54 04:15 72 76
RobR RobR 05:55 06:13 105 111
KarenR 05:57 05:08 86 91
Looch 05:58 06:34 110 117
cath23 06:13 05:19 85 90
PGooden 06:15 06:00 96 102
andrewfeist96 06:22 06:30 102 108
thewanderingeditor 06:27 05:53 91 96
Shabbo 06:32 06:05 93 98
Dzhigit 06:34 04:45 72 76
julian_w 06:35 04:20 65 69
Tudds 06:38 05:11 78 82
Curarist 06:42 05:38 84 89
mjsaunders9 06:56 05:22 77 81
valerian1967 06:56 06:02 87 92
janesa 07:03 05:54 83 88
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 08:00 110 117
Jamie Fox 07:15 05:13 71 75
Aldus 07:23 05:59 81 86
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:31 07:40 101 107
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 07:40 101 107
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 06:32 84 89
plett11 Plett11 08:14 08:23 101 107
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 07:56 93 98
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 09:23 108 114
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:40 07:38 88 93
RPY 08:52 05:57 67 71
raincloud 09:25 04:32 48 51
simjt simjt 11:21 12:03 106 112
Cedric Statherby 11:34 10:18 89 94
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 07:19 59 62
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 13:30 95 101
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 17:05 115 122
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:25 09:54 64 68
New Driver 16:06 29:00 180 191
bangsar DearHector 21:12 27:15 128 136
IanV IanV 31:11 20:57 67 71

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.