Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3048

Date 23 July 2025
Number 3048
Setter Izetti
Day of week Wednesday
NITCH 67
Count of ref solvers 77
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3048

* 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 01:35 70 104
cmjhutton 02:18 01:37 70 104
Jason 02:35 02:08 82 122
verlaine 02:38 01:55 72 107
mistigris 02:39 02:03 77 114
Magoo 02:46 02:41 96 143
hilarym 02:50 01:52 65 97
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:27 85 126
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:05 96 143
davebees 03:27 03:04 88 131
richard 03:37 02:22 65 97
Ciolf 03:37 02:57 81 120
markdobell 03:39 02:22 64 95
Heyesey 03:41 02:34 69 102
AlanS 03:55 02:18 58 86
Amoeba89 03:55 03:30 89 132
Kinghedger 04:01 02:08 53 79
SimonAnthony 04:04 02:41 65 97
glheard 04:06 02:51 69 102
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 03:24 81 120
Deane Short 04:13 02:38 62 92
lickert 04:15 03:34 83 123
MikeOsborne 04:17 02:19 54 80
Morphosis 04:28 04:17 95 141
Roscoe 04:32 01:52 41 61
MK76 04:35 03:25 74 110
chindit 04:37 04:05 88 131
EricK 04:38 03:54 84 125
Bluejacket 04:39 03:22 72 107
tilbee 04:40 03:28 74 110
lucyg43484 04:41 04:07 87 129
Freemers 04:44 03:21 70 104
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 03:11 66 98
alexh 04:47 03:08 65 97
scrabbler 04:51 03:51 79 117
Jon Delfin 04:52 03:59 81 120
andrewlake 04:53 02:47 56 83
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 03:30 71 105
fshephe 04:56 03:07 63 94
footballblue 04:56 03:48 77 114
tiggis 04:57 02:39 53 79
d.middleton 04:57 03:51 77 114
cdb_100 05:00 03:03 61 91
JayEm 05:01 03:38 72 107
March 05:03 03:12 63 94
Adelaider 05:06 02:58 58 86
Honggui 05:06 03:23 66 98
Aybee 05:07 04:04 79 117
nina s 05:10 03:58 76 113
Zander 05:14 03:55 74 110
DunPangolin 05:14 03:59 76 113
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 03:35 68 101
ChuckB 05:18 04:23 82 122
Tibthorpe 05:19 03:40 68 101
AndyKnott321 05:27 04:23 80 119
Vannyx 05:30 04:08 75 111
rrricharrrd 05:32 03:20 60 89
Riche Riche 05:32 03:45 67 100
whichcraft 05:36 04:02 72 107
esmeralda 05:38 03:15 57 85
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:38 04:02 71 105
Crossiant 05:42 03:54 68 101
Encota 05:47 03:29 60 89
mw7000 05:48 03:37 62 92
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 03:47 65 97
SBQuick 05:54 04:23 74 110
RobR RobR 05:55 03:57 66 98
KarenR 05:57 03:06 52 77
Looch 05:58 03:21 56 83
Mike C 06:04 03:45 61 91
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 03:22 55 82
cath23 06:13 03:19 53 79
PGooden 06:15 03:55 62 92
Carol 06:20 03:42 58 86
julian_w 06:35 04:11 63 94
jon 06:47 04:20 63 94
mjsaunders9 06:56 04:18 62 92
uvofiz 07:01 04:22 62 92
James P 07:05 04:03 57 85
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:31 06:30 86 128
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 05:20 70 104
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 05:21 69 102
1234 07:51 04:16 54 80
plett11 Plett11 08:14 06:11 75 111
john.brassey 08:30 04:09 48 71
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 05:14 61 91
johndun John Dunleavy 08:40 05:48 66 98
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:40 06:15 72 107
RPY 08:52 04:04 45 67
raincloud 09:25 03:16 34 50
simjt simjt 11:21 07:00 61 91
Cedric Statherby 11:34 05:54 51 76
chabuduo chabuduo 12:22 08:39 69 102
kapietro kapietro 12:39 06:18 49 73
Mendes Mendesest 14:04 06:16 44 65
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:50 08:14 55 82
Doofenschmirtz Doofenschmirtz 15:25 08:12 53 79
New Driver 16:06 07:09 44 65
bangsar DearHector 21:12 07:43 36 53
Pontypandy 23:08 03:06 13 19
IanV IanV 31:11 15:00 48 71
shankar 33:03 03:04 9 13

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.