Quick SNITCH

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

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 3045

Date 19 July 2025
Number 3045
Setter Breadman
Day of week Saturday
NITCH 97
Count of ref solvers 78
Ref solvers excluded with errors 0
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 3045

* 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 01:50 86 88
Paul Gilbert 02:14 01:59 88 90
cmjhutton 02:18 02:06 91 93
Jason 02:35 02:27 94 96
verlaine 02:38 02:16 86 88
mistigris 02:39 02:55 110 113
Magoo 02:46 03:01 109 112
hilarym 02:50 02:49 99 102
aphis99 aphis99 02:51 02:53 101 104
Flimmy flammy 03:11 03:08 98 101
Ciolf 03:37 03:22 93 95
markdobell 03:39 03:57 108 111
Heyesey 03:41 03:43 100 103
Amoeba89 03:55 03:15 82 84
AlanS 03:55 03:51 98 101
Kinghedger 04:01 03:57 98 101
SimonAnthony 04:04 03:22 82 84
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:11 03:22 80 82
Deane Short 04:13 04:32 107 110
lickert 04:15 07:07 167 172
MikeOsborne 04:17 04:29 104 107
Umpire 04:21 03:57 90 92
Morphosis 04:28 05:09 115 118
Roscoe 04:32 04:20 95 97
MK76 04:35 03:59 86 88
chindit 04:37 06:39 144 148
EricK 04:38 03:16 70 72
Bluejacket 04:39 04:06 88 90
tilbee 04:40 05:26 116 119
lucyg43484 04:41 04:58 106 109
Freemers 04:44 04:31 95 97
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 04:46 03:38 76 78
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:46 04:24 92 94
alexh 04:47 06:05 127 130
andrewlake 04:53 04:01 82 84
LouWeed LouWeed 04:53 04:09 84 86
andy 04:55 03:58 80 82
fshephe 04:56 03:34 72 74
Liari 04:57 04:27 89 91
d.middleton 04:57 05:25 109 112
tiggis 04:57 06:19 127 130
JayEm 05:01 05:50 116 119
March 05:03 05:04 100 103
Ed freshpot 05:04 04:05 80 82
nina s 05:10 06:08 118 121
Zander 05:14 05:11 99 102
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 06:28 122 125
ChuckB 05:18 05:42 107 110
Tibthorpe 05:19 05:15 98 101
babka 05:21 05:40 105 108
AndyKnott321 05:27 06:35 120 123
Riche Riche 05:32 05:20 96 98
Finzi 05:39 06:42 118 121
Crossiant 05:42 06:20 111 114
mcrossib1 05:45 05:53 102 105
Encota 05:47 05:31 95 97
chriswestontour 05:47 06:15 108 111
MrChumley MrChumley 05:52 05:50 99 102
Gaius 05:53 07:09 121 124
SBQuick 05:54 04:20 73 75
KarenR 05:57 06:33 110 113
Looch 05:58 06:09 103 106
KET 06:02 05:33 91 93
hopkinb hopkinb 06:07 06:51 111 114
Anomalospiza 06:10 04:51 78 80
cath23 06:13 05:30 88 90
PGooden 06:15 07:11 114 117
Dzhigit 06:34 05:52 89 91
GMcD 06:38 05:13 78 80
Tudds 06:38 06:47 102 105
Michael Dove 06:39 06:36 99 102
Curarist 06:42 06:20 94 96
ilan 06:52 06:45 98 101
mjsaunders9 06:56 06:10 88 90
KenD51 06:57 06:52 98 101
janesa 07:03 06:41 94 96
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:13 06:03 83 85
earlylight 07:24 06:51 92 94
DamienKnapma 07:29 06:47 90 92
Corymbia Corymbia 07:47 05:43 73 75
ChrisBrea 07:51 06:01 76 78
1234 07:51 06:41 85 87
Templar Redux Templar 08:30 06:34 77 79
Jeeves 08:38 07:04 81 83
m5harp 08:46 06:54 78 80
Poff 09:40 07:09 73 75

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.