Crossword SNITCH

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

Times Cryptic Crossword 28906

Date 02 May 2024
Number 28906
Day of week Thursday
NITCH 60
Count of ref solvers 65
Ref solvers excluded with errors 8
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 28906

* 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
hazeltearne 03:41 04:13 114 190
mohn mohn2 04:34 03:22 73 121
Mikemon 05:41 05:08 90 150
Diskus 05:58 04:02 67 111
Nathan Panning 06:00 04:18 71 118
lili 06:25 04:30 70 116
mistigris 06:36 03:40 55 91
Magoo 06:39 04:08 62 103
hilarym 07:10 05:44 80 133
Paul Gilbert 07:18 04:38 63 105
aphis99 aphis99 07:25 06:21 85 141
cmjhutton 07:45 03:09 40 66
Dr Dolittle 08:13 05:57 72 120
boulemiche 09:10 07:53 86 143
asaldanha 09:17 07:30 80 133
glheard glh 09:24 05:23 57 95
markdobell 10:08 07:59 78 130
Kinghedger 10:17 06:35 64 106
lickert 10:28 08:26 80 133
philjordan1147 BUSMAN 10:41 08:19 77 128
Umpire 10:45 05:29 51 85
keriothe_ keriothe 10:50 06:02 55 91
tiggis 10:51 07:25 68 113
Heyesey 10:55 06:56 63 105
scrabbler 10:57 06:26 58 96
miked1961 10:58 08:00 72 120
AlanS 11:20 13:20 117 195
Topical Tim Topical Tim 11:24 08:05 70 116
Sheapey Sheapey 11:33 06:28 55 91
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 11:48 07:23 62 103
Golvellius 11:53 09:10 77 128
SimonAnthony 11:55 06:18 52 86
HoneyBadger 11:58 04:16 35 58
fshephe 12:04 08:04 66 110
neilr neilr 12:05 06:47 56 93
Stavros Stavrolex 12:21 06:27 52 86
canismiser 12:36 05:24 42 70
ChuckB 12:40 07:53 62 103
edwards.robert1 12:50 09:25 73 121
John Walsh 12:56 08:35 66 110
Silva 12:56 09:37 74 123
7dPenguin (KenG) 7dPenguin 13:12 07:51 59 98
Paul Bacon 13:13 11:05 83 138
aphasic 13:15 08:56 67 111
March (JeffCollins) mch1 13:16 06:46 51 85
MikeOsborne mikeosborne 13:25 07:54 58 96
Groucho 13:40 09:42 70 116
Penfold_61 Penfold 13:44 08:37 62 103
Ben Staveley 13:54 08:12 58 96
Tibthorpe 14:04 08:57 63 105
chriss 14:16 08:37 60 100
LouWeed LouWeed 14:17 10:13 71 118
Peponi13 14:19 12:33 87 145
alexh 14:22 10:52 75 125
CentralLine CentralLine 14:30 13:18 91 151
johninterred Johninterred 14:40 19:35 133 221
Semillon 14:41 08:48 59 98
Finzi 14:48 09:39 65 108
myles 14:49 10:31 70 116
BlackburnRover 14:49 11:48 79 131
john.brassey 15:08 13:59 92 153
Pootle Pootle 15:24 07:52 51 85
gabrojak 15:36 10:41 68 113
robinh 15:46 12:47 81 135
Squallaby 15:51 15:19 96 160
grape 15:53 08:18 52 86
JezWoolfrey 15:53 10:33 66 110
tapbarker 15:56 08:21 52 86
zinzan 16:02 12:01 74 123
Looch 16:05 08:54 55 91
Viscomte 16:12 12:53 79 131
andrewlake 16:37 08:22 50 83
daulbs 16:39 07:50 47 78
Freemers 16:47 07:54 47 78
ajcauk1 16:57 11:51 69 115
ilan 17:01 08:50 51 85
jimwetzler 17:04 15:23 90 150
MrChumley MrChumley 17:11 13:03 75 125
Craven 17:33 13:05 74 123
Galspray (Rabbitoh) galspray 17:34 07:36 43 71
jeremy.kenyon 17:38 13:15 75 125
Encota 17:47 08:53 49 81
DunPangolin 17:55 13:16 74 123
PGooden 17:56 12:25 69 115
cmcnsmith 18:10 14:52 81 135
GMcD 18:23 11:09 60 100
Gallion Fish 18:24 10:40 57 95
Foozler 18:37 14:14 76 126
DanSolo 18:40 12:45 68 113
Andrew Whiffin 18:50 12:35 66 110
pterodactyl 19:00 12:16 64 106
hopkinb hopkinb 19:00 07:29 39 65
Colin2355 19:01 10:39 56 93
Upfisher 19:06 11:18 59 98
Grestyman Grestyman 19:08 11:03 57 95
pc8 19:21 11:07 57 95
Zander 19:29 10:59 56 93
LuckOfLucien 19:30 09:25 48 80
npweston 19:30 13:57 71 118
Solver52 19:32 17:37 90 150
Riche Riche 20:08 15:42 77 128
hugh schofield Leskoffer 20:10 13:00 64 106
Pxspxs 20:13 10:00 49 81
uvofiz 20:15 10:50 53 88
David Bourne 20:25 08:57 43 71
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 20:27 13:28 65 108
Jagsfan1971 20:27 12:48 62 103
UisceTe 20:28 13:24 65 108
James P Special_bitter 20:29 08:54 43 71
Hamish.S 20:32 14:21 69 115
Curarist Curarist 20:34 11:06 53 88
Zabadak3 Zabadak 20:35 16:33 80 133
DianeRS 20:40 17:17 83 138
Mike C 20:40 11:05 53 88
monkfish 20:46 15:31 74 123
M Bennett 21:00 10:59 52 86
Nangle 21:09 15:02 71 118
endafk 21:20 09:28 44 73
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 21:21 14:00 65 108
daniel.faith 21:24 14:14 66 110
Waterloo 21:26 15:50 73 121
Leegoods 21:28 12:40 59 98
Onelug 21:33 08:56 41 68
Corymbia Corymbia 21:35 12:03 55 91
Rod B 21:38 12:31 57 95
John Arnold 21:41 13:13 60 100
george.garlick 21:58 13:35 61 101
The Caffeine Kid 22:07 14:25 65 108
goblin 22:33 17:54 79 131
jimancliffe 22:44 14:36 64 106
david_ch 22:48 13:15 58 96
Tudds 23:03 15:58 69 115
richardCV22 23:06 14:06 61 101
klamery4 23:43 13:27 56 93
1234 23:44 16:46 70 116
DamienKnapma 23:51 10:40 44 73
chris661554 24:21 13:24 55 91
rjcassidy rjcassidy 24:24 17:41 72 120
medodd 24:32 17:22 70 116
Crippens1 24:40 19:30 79 131
JohnDun (johndun) john_dun 25:01 10:33 42 70
timbo 25:28 12:53 50 83
barracuda barracuda 25:52 16:46 64 106
Fidelio 26:15 13:50 52 86
Deezzaa Deezzaa 26:30 19:45 74 123
Yatton50 27:01 14:41 54 90
infinitejest 27:01 11:49 43 71
nekabue 27:19 17:25 63 105
Dr_Bob 27:21 19:28 71 118
Mike Harper Mike Harper 27:40 15:44 56 93
symbenall2 28:42 23:51 83 138
RogerC 28:42 15:05 52 86
Rowlie26 28:50 14:10 49 81
NAPASAI napasai 28:53 11:24 39 65
Winchelt 28:54 20:16 70 116
phcbarnes 29:39 19:51 66 110
Mudge Mudge 29:57 14:40 48 80
Speedcop2 30:52 19:24 62 103
dosbarth 31:22 18:43 59 98
hipponym 31:50 16:10 50 83
gbestanley 32:15 22:16 69 115
koro kororareka 32:22 17:03 52 86
Grumpole Grumpole 32:30 15:58 49 81
Maggot 32:32 25:16 77 128
alistair.boere 33:08 24:05 72 120
BertieVII 33:35 15:58 47 78
bruce.johnston22 33:38 12:13 36 60
Rookie 34:08 19:22 56 93
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 34:46 17:22 49 81
starstruck starstruck_au 36:22 19:29 53 88
boltonwanderer 36:40 16:00 43 71
CoxBurglar coxburglar 37:08 17:29 47 78
Shushannah 37:56 24:23 64 106
kapietro kapietro 38:20 21:46 56 93
rv_1 39:09 28:02 71 118
Cryptique 39:29 22:05 55 91
Dalai Farmer 39:32 33:15 84 140
baronrob 42:50 16:58 39 65
empty 45:47 30:19 66 110
Steve Wood 49:17 24:47 50 83
MartinP MartinP1 51:45 31:53 61 101
kjbr 52:05 25:06 48 80
The Real Steve Snackman 52:44 42:09 79 131
intentional rounding 57:51 15:44 27 45

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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