Crossword SNITCH

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

Times Cryptic Crossword 28735

Date 16 October 2023
Number 28735
Day of week Monday
NITCH 63
Count of ref solvers 66
Ref solvers excluded with errors 10
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 28735

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

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 mohn2 04:39 03:31 75 119
Nathan Panning 05:40 04:13 74 117
Jason 05:48 03:25 58 92
Diskus 06:31 04:15 65 103
verlaine Verlaine 06:40 04:07 61 96
hilarym 06:44 04:31 67 106
lili 07:17 04:56 67 106
aphis99 aphis99 07:20 05:30 75 119
Paul Gilbert 07:35 04:24 58 92
Magoo 08:21 03:24 40 63
boulemiche 09:07 07:22 80 126
chindit 09:14 06:24 69 109
Kinghedger 10:15 08:23 81 128
glheard glh 10:32 07:01 66 104
miked1961 11:10 06:51 61 96
keriothe_ keriothe 11:19 07:45 68 107
chriswords 11:20 09:16 81 128
andy 11:25 07:28 65 103
xyster 11:27 07:25 64 101
Heyesey 11:38 06:43 57 90
Topical Tim Topical Tim 11:40 04:56 42 66
patrickcates 11:46 07:59 67 106
fuzz 11:52 10:20 87 138
Sheapey Sheapey 12:01 06:22 52 82
fshephe 12:02 11:05 92 146
David Crooks dcrooks 12:08 07:52 64 101
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 12:23 07:46 62 98
tilbee 12:42 08:13 64 101
March (JeffCollins) mch1 12:43 10:13 80 126
JimboFS 12:48 06:35 51 80
aphasic 12:56 07:25 57 90
John Walsh 13:05 12:26 95 150
HoneyBadger 13:15 09:00 67 106
Ben Staveley 13:16 11:13 84 133
Paul Bacon 13:20 09:53 74 117
Henry White 13:40 07:17 53 84
Silva 13:43 11:04 80 126
Stavros Stavrolex 13:43 08:02 58 92
CentralLine CentralLine 13:46 07:54 57 90
LouWeed LouWeed 13:46 12:31 90 142
jonathan.leather 13:48 11:41 84 133
edwards.robert1 14:00 13:52 99 157
MikeOsborne mikeosborne 14:16 09:30 66 104
Finzi 14:27 11:22 78 123
Tibthorpe 14:35 11:16 77 122
AndyR 14:37 11:42 80 126
Penfold_61 Penfold 14:38 10:28 71 112
franceslc11 14:44 08:56 60 95
JezWoolfrey 14:49 10:34 71 112
phthisis 14:51 11:46 79 125
Semillon 14:55 09:17 62 98
samgdavies 14:58 09:25 62 98
Achernar 15:06 11:42 77 122
Eddddddd 15:21 08:30 55 87
gabrojak 15:28 11:02 71 112
MK76 15:29 10:53 70 111
Secondbass 15:38 08:14 52 82
Squallaby 15:48 08:58 56 88
Peponi13 15:54 11:31 72 114
robinh 16:03 11:42 72 114
Pootle Pootle 16:08 09:41 60 95
SimonAnthony 16:15 06:28 39 61
BlackburnRover 16:43 15:01 89 141
Looch 16:47 11:42 69 109
andrewlake 16:51 11:12 66 104
Galspray (Rabbitoh) galspray 16:59 10:57 64 101
ajcauk1 17:05 13:53 81 128
Crucifer Crucifer 17:10 07:52 45 71
LJCN 17:17 09:33 55 87
zinzan 17:20 12:19 71 112
Craven 17:22 11:26 65 103
Umpire 17:44 11:01 62 98
DunPangolin 18:04 12:43 70 111
pterodactyl 18:09 15:23 84 133
GMcD 18:22 10:31 57 90
Crossiant 18:48 08:51 47 74
kath 18:54 19:44 104 165
John Arnold 18:57 13:11 69 109
uvofiz 19:04 10:46 56 88
Jeremy S 19:04 14:08 74 117
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 19:16 13:16 68 107
Cookincats 19:17 19:00 98 155
Andrew Whiffin 19:26 12:16 63 100
Dzhigit dzhigit71 19:44 13:53 70 111
Hamish.S 20:21 08:36 42 66
crosswordian 20:31 14:46 71 112
endafk 20:40 12:03 58 92
James P Special_bitter 20:55 09:16 44 69
pc8 21:08 10:52 51 80
hopkinb hopkinb 21:24 10:48 50 79
Curarist Curarist 21:27 13:02 60 95
David Bourne 21:27 09:17 43 68
george.garlick 21:38 16:16 75 119
UisceTe 22:13 13:43 61 96
Nangle 22:21 15:50 70 111
tony the butcher montana 22:54 20:03 87 138
goblin 23:25 15:19 65 103
Waterloo 23:29 19:25 82 130
hugh schofield Leskoffer 23:29 14:21 61 96
stainl665 23:47 15:10 63 100
DianeRS 23:57 12:32 52 82
Tudds 23:58 14:23 60 95
david_ch 24:11 10:48 44 69
daniel.faith 24:15 15:51 65 103
Riche Riche 24:25 16:08 66 104
barracuda barracuda 24:48 22:38 91 144
JohnDun (johndun) john_dun 24:56 13:11 52 82
Fidelio 25:09 18:40 74 117
Bert Dove 25:17 16:34 65 103
Mkgnao Mkgnao 25:51 16:53 65 103
medodd 26:05 13:04 50 79
ulaca ulaca 26:10 12:09 46 73
Crippens1 26:36 14:44 55 87
McBeak McBeak 26:44 12:07 45 71
chris661554 26:53 15:53 59 93
Yatton50 27:38 15:34 56 88
MartianAlien 27:40 19:39 71 112
eniamretrauq eniamretrauq 27:50 14:11 50 79
Dr_Bob 28:12 18:55 67 106
JoeyC 28:20 13:42 48 76
Lloyd 28:33 24:57 87 138
JMbrow29 29:11 21:18 72 114
nekabue 29:38 14:38 49 77
Mike Harper Mike Harper 29:57 15:53 53 84
infinitejest 30:07 21:26 71 112
gbestanley 30:26 18:53 62 98
bruce.johnston22 30:52 21:48 70 111
jeremy.kenyon 31:20 11:52 37 58
Grumpole Grumpole 31:54 17:35 55 87
Manveru 32:00 22:55 71 112
Vagans 32:35 17:56 55 87
6098mr 32:43 35:48 109 173
cheryllayne cheryllayne 32:44 29:12 89 141
koro kororareka 32:45 26:34 81 128
Pleasuredome Pleasuredome8 35:12 19:37 55 87
starstruck starstruck_au 35:34 19:44 55 87
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 36:25 28:20 77 122
branch branch 36:30 20:11 55 87
Winchelt618 37:00 35:38 96 152
tyrotim tyrotim 37:06 21:07 56 88
Rozz 38:54 22:54 58 92
kapietro kapietro 39:10 27:53 71 112
alistair.boere 39:20 17:09 43 68
maryht 39:23 38:51 98 155
Shushannah 39:53 25:14 63 100
NAPASAI napasai 42:44 16:26 38 60
MartinP MartinP1 43:25 29:52 68 107
baronrob 43:46 31:46 72 114
empty 43:54 38:53 88 139
Steve Wood 48:19 26:47 55 87
wolfcloud 48:50 18:58 38 60
Dalai Farmer 53:41 25:20 47 74
kjbr 53:52 42:16 78 123

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.

Stored SNITCH Values

Here are the SNITCH values (stored on the day) from the crossword.

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