Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3047

Date 22 July 2025
Number 3047
Setter Oink
Day of week Tuesday
NITCH 79
Count of ref solvers 79
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3047

* 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 02:04 92 116
cmjhutton 02:18 02:02 88 111
Jason 02:35 02:10 83 105
verlaine 02:38 02:17 86 108
Magoo 02:46 02:39 95 120
hilarym 02:50 03:06 109 137
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:04 72 91
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:56 123 155
Ciolf 03:37 03:30 96 121
richard 03:37 03:31 97 122
markdobell 03:39 02:27 67 84
Heyesey 03:41 02:54 78 98
Amoeba89 03:55 03:09 80 101
SimonAnthony 04:04 02:46 68 86
glheard 04:06 03:47 92 116
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 02:45 65 82
Deane Short 04:13 04:20 102 129
lickert 04:15 04:05 96 121
MikeOsborne 04:17 02:27 57 72
Morphosis 04:28 04:17 95 120
Roscoe 04:32 03:56 86 108
MK76 04:35 03:04 66 83
chindit 04:37 04:30 97 122
EricK 04:38 03:52 83 105
Bluejacket 04:39 03:44 80 101
tilbee 04:40 03:23 72 91
lucyg43484 04:41 05:03 107 135
Freemers 04:44 04:06 86 108
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:05 85 107
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 04:07 86 108
alexh 04:47 04:27 93 117
scrabbler 04:51 03:40 75 94
Jon Delfin 04:52 02:59 61 77
canismiser 04:52 05:29 112 141
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 03:14 66 83
andrewlake 04:53 04:14 86 108
andy 04:55 04:40 94 118
fshephe 04:56 03:52 78 98
footballblue 04:56 04:20 87 110
cdb_100 05:00 02:48 56 70
JayEm 05:01 03:43 74 93
March 05:03 03:15 64 81
Ed freshpot 05:04 04:13 83 105
Adelaider 05:06 03:44 73 92
Honggui 05:06 04:30 88 111
nina s 05:10 04:44 91 115
DunPangolin 05:14 04:30 85 107
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 05:14 99 125
ChuckB 05:18 04:41 88 111
AndyKnott321 05:27 05:06 93 117
Vannyx 05:30 03:41 66 83
rrricharrrd 05:32 03:15 58 73
whichcraft 05:36 04:37 82 103
Paul Hammond Paul Hammond 05:38 04:16 75 94
Finzi 05:39 04:25 78 98
Crossiant 05:42 05:12 91 115
mcrossib1 05:45 04:27 77 97
Encota 05:47 05:26 93 117
Penfold_61 05:48 04:01 69 87
mw7000 05:48 04:31 77 97
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 03:57 67 84
SBQuick 05:54 03:26 58 73
RobR RobR 05:55 05:26 91 115
KarenR 05:57 04:28 75 94
Looch 05:58 04:19 72 91
Mike C 06:04 04:11 68 86
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 04:24 71 89
Anomalospiza 06:10 04:09 67 84
cath23 06:13 04:14 68 86
PGooden 06:15 04:58 79 100
dr.shred dr.shred 06:26 05:05 79 100
Adrian Cobb 06:34 04:50 73 92
GMcD 06:38 05:17 79 100
Tudds 06:38 05:32 83 105
Curarist 06:42 03:37 53 67
jon 06:47 05:12 76 96
mjsaunders9 06:56 04:20 62 78
valerian1967 06:56 04:49 69 87
uvofiz 07:01 05:20 76 96
janesa 07:03 04:35 65 82
James P 07:05 04:36 64 81
Nangle 07:08 04:27 62 78
Obrador 07:10 04:40 65 82
Jamie Fox 07:15 04:28 61 77
Dvynys Dvynys 07:45 04:34 58 73
hemantyd 08:36 05:21 62 78
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:04 04:36 50 63
Mike Mansbridge 09:53 03:47 38 48

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.