Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3046

Date 21 July 2025
Number 3046
Setter Trelawney
Day of week Monday
NITCH 76
Count of ref solvers 79
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3046

* 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 02:07 01:21 63 82
Paul Gilbert 02:14 01:49 81 106
cmjhutton 02:18 01:55 83 109
Jason 02:35 02:02 78 102
verlaine 02:38 02:14 84 110
mistigris 02:39 02:15 84 110
Magoo 02:46 02:24 86 113
hilarym 02:50 01:54 67 88
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:44 95 125
Flimmy flammy 03:11 05:06 160 210
Ciolf 03:37 02:54 80 105
richard 03:37 03:50 105 138
markdobell 03:39 03:03 83 109
Heyesey 03:41 03:14 87 114
Amoeba89 03:55 02:27 62 81
AlanS 03:55 03:06 79 103
SimonAnthony 04:04 02:10 53 69
glheard 04:06 03:41 89 117
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 02:25 57 75
Deane Short 04:13 03:21 79 103
lickert 04:15 04:48 112 147
MikeOsborne 04:17 03:59 92 121
toots 04:30 03:31 78 102
Roscoe 04:32 04:53 107 140
MK76 04:35 03:35 78 102
chindit 04:37 03:24 73 96
EricK 04:38 03:55 84 110
Bluejacket 04:39 02:39 56 73
tilbee 04:40 03:40 78 102
lucyg43484 04:41 03:44 79 103
Freemers 04:44 04:55 103 135
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:06 86 113
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 04:52 102 134
alexh 04:47 03:26 71 93
scrabbler 04:51 04:12 86 113
canismiser 04:52 03:48 78 102
Jon Delfin 04:52 04:43 96 126
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 02:38 53 69
andy 04:55 03:48 77 101
fshephe 04:56 03:38 73 96
Liari 04:57 04:23 88 115
cdb_100 05:00 02:48 56 73
JayEm 05:01 04:09 82 107
neilr neilr 05:02 04:07 81 106
March 05:03 03:49 75 98
Ed freshpot 05:04 04:32 89 117
Aly Duncan 05:07 03:00 58 76
Zander 05:14 03:51 73 96
DunPangolin 05:14 04:19 82 107
Squallaby 05:15 04:20 82 107
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 04:59 94 123
ChuckB 05:18 04:37 87 114
Tibthorpe 05:19 03:46 70 92
babka 05:21 04:47 89 117
AndyKnott321 05:27 04:00 73 96
Vannyx 05:30 04:13 76 100
rrricharrrd 05:32 03:47 68 89
Riche Riche 05:32 04:32 81 106
whichcraft 05:36 02:38 47 61
Finzi 05:39 04:40 82 107
mcrossib1 05:45 04:04 70 92
Encota 05:47 03:58 68 89
mw7000 05:48 04:46 82 107
Rabbitoh galspray 05:49 04:23 75 98
SBQuick 05:54 03:52 65 85
KarenR 05:57 05:10 86 113
Mike C 06:04 04:35 75 98
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 04:48 78 102
Onelug 06:17 05:05 80 105
Carol 06:20 04:26 70 92
andrewfeist96 06:22 04:20 68 89
Shabbo 06:32 04:03 61 80
GMcD 06:38 04:37 69 90
jimwetzler 06:39 05:05 76 100
jon 06:47 04:29 66 86
edwards.robert1 06:53 04:01 58 76
uvofiz 07:01 05:00 71 93
James P 07:05 04:55 69 90
Jamie Fox 07:15 03:51 53 69
earlylight 07:24 04:19 58 76
TomHerbert 07:44 03:06 40 52
Doyler 07:49 03:59 50 65
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 04:46 56 73
goblin 08:43 03:38 41 53
gsriordan52 09:08 04:11 45 59
intentional rounding 10:10 03:01 29 38

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.