Quick SNITCH

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

Reference solvers for December 2024

The following solvers are used as references for the NITCH calculations in this month. The time indicated is their average solving time for error-free puzzles during the prior six months. The solvers average NITCH for each day of week is also shown, with the number of solutions for that day.

RankSolverSolutions usedAverage time MonTueWedThuFri
1 mohn 79 02:02 97 (16) 94 (14) 90 (12) 105 (19) 107 (18)
2 cmjhutton 114 02:24 95 (24) 102 (22) 97 (23) 104 (24) 100 (21)
3 Paul Gilbert 115 02:29 102 (22) 108 (24) 95 (25) 93 (22) 100 (22)
4 verlaine 117 02:36 95 (22) 105 (25) 92 (25) 108 (22) 98 (23)
5 Jason 120 02:39 105 (24) 106 (24) 88 (23) 97 (24) 100 (25)
6 hilarym 97 02:46 100 (20) 106 (19) 93 (23) 101 (19) 100 (16)
7 mistigris 84 02:47 98 (15) 104 (18) 94 (17) 92 (17) 111 (17)
8 aphis99 120 02:51 101 (24) 103 (24) 93 (26) 98 (23) 102 (23)
9 Flimmy flammy 120 03:29 97 (25) 110 (25) 94 (23) 92 (23) 103 (24)
10 richard 62 03:34 103 (10) 106 (13) 93 (16) 102 (13) 97 (10)
11 Sheapey 69 03:34 96 (15) 102 (13) 100 (12) 104 (14) 96 (15)
12 markdobell 114 03:40 97 (22) 101 (22) 92 (24) 102 (25) 106 (21)
13 Heyesey 88 03:49 91 (14) 112 (16) 96 (20) 98 (21) 102 (17)
14 Ciolf 84 03:51 99 (14) 95 (16) 103 (20) 94 (15) 103 (19)
15 Topical Tim 106 04:05 106 (22) 98 (22) 94 (21) 104 (20) 96 (21)
16 Kinghedger 101 04:08 95 (22) 106 (20) 95 (22) 96 (18) 106 (19)
17 Umpire 93 04:09 99 (16) 106 (20) 100 (19) 94 (21) 99 (17)
18 Amoeba89 38 04:10 101 (8) 100 (8) 89 (7) 112 (8) 95 (7)
19 glheard 101 04:13 97 (19) 100 (21) 92 (21) 102 (20) 108 (20)
20 MikeOsborne 106 04:13 103 (23) 107 (21) 88 (22) 100 (22) 99 (18)
21 chindit 113 04:20 97 (24) 103 (22) 98 (23) 96 (23) 104 (21)
22 Roscoe 79 04:23 99 (18) 108 (15) 88 (14) 102 (15) 101 (17)
23 lickert 116 04:25 98 (22) 98 (23) 94 (25) 104 (22) 104 (24)
24 AlanS 101 04:26 95 (18) 103 (20) 96 (22) 95 (20) 108 (21)
25 Morphosis 87 04:31 98 (17) 105 (17) 97 (18) 100 (19) 97 (16)
26 philjordan1147 105 04:38 94 (20) 107 (22) 96 (23) 99 (20) 102 (20)
27 Tom Stubbs 121 04:39 103 (25) 102 (24) 89 (23) 94 (25) 108 (24)
28 Honggui 56 04:40 96 (14) 106 (12) 97 (9) 98 (11) 102 (10)
29 MK76 80 04:43 103 (18) 100 (13) 97 (21) 87 (16) 114 (12)
30 tilbee 95 04:43 100 (19) 103 (19) 93 (23) 103 (16) 100 (18)
31 canismiser 62 04:44 89 (12) 111 (15) 99 (15) 101 (13) 91 (7)
32 toots 76 04:45 99 (17) 99 (17) 92 (22) 108 (11) 106 (9)
33 lucyg43484 111 04:45 91 (21) 106 (24) 88 (23) 105 (22) 108 (21)
34 tiggis 48 04:50 91 (9) 96 (10) 89 (7) 111 (13) 104 (9)
35 alexh 112 04:50 103 (23) 99 (21) 96 (24) 102 (23) 98 (21)
36 LouWeed 115 04:53 102 (21) 92 (22) 94 (24) 104 (24) 105 (24)
37 andrewlake 122 04:53 96 (25) 107 (24) 89 (26) 97 (24) 109 (23)
38 denislaw 43 04:54 104 (8) 92 (9) 109 (10) 99 (8) 92 (8)
39 Bluejacket 101 04:58 92 (18) 102 (21) 102 (23) 103 (20) 99 (19)
40 March 115 04:58 103 (23) 103 (22) 91 (22) 96 (24) 105 (24)
41 Liari 86 05:00 101 (18) 102 (19) 95 (17) 99 (16) 102 (16)
42 andy 122 05:00 102 (24) 101 (23) 94 (25) 96 (26) 107 (24)
43 LuckOfLucien 88 05:03 99 (12) 102 (19) 95 (20) 98 (19) 105 (18)
44 scrabbler 113 05:05 98 (22) 111 (22) 88 (25) 96 (24) 107 (20)
45 CentralLine 52 05:07 99 (7) 104 (8) 94 (16) 94 (10) 111 (11)
46 EricK 44 05:08 96 (8) 100 (10) 104 (9) 103 (9) 92 (8)
47 pitcaithlie 74 05:09 103 (17) 107 (12) 90 (19) 94 (14) 108 (12)
48 McBeakLives 85 05:09 101 (21) 101 (17) 100 (18) 102 (15) 91 (14)
49 neilr 99 05:09 98 (20) 103 (22) 97 (20) 96 (23) 107 (14)
50 cdb_100 117 05:11 93 (22) 109 (23) 86 (24) 99 (25) 111 (23)
51 Tibthorpe 108 05:14 98 (23) 106 (22) 93 (20) 103 (20) 98 (23)
52 Ed freshpot 109 05:15 89 (20) 109 (24) 87 (22) 97 (21) 114 (22)
53 ChuckB 59 05:17 100 (14) 107 (8) 97 (12) 97 (12) 98 (13)
54 Zander 105 05:20 94 (19) 106 (24) 102 (25) 94 (20) 99 (17)
55 fshephe 119 05:20 98 (23) 103 (25) 91 (25) 100 (23) 106 (23)
56 footballblue 39 05:21 100 (10) 102 (6) 104 (11) 87 (6) 101 (6)
57 Squallaby 108 05:22 96 (23) 110 (20) 94 (22) 97 (21) 101 (22)
58 nina s 89 05:23 96 (19) 107 (19) 96 (16) 103 (19) 94 (16)
59 7dPenguin 109 05:24 95 (22) 103 (21) 95 (22) 99 (23) 107 (21)
60 JayEm 62 05:25 100 (12) 99 (9) 111 (13) 96 (13) 92 (15)
61 AndyKnott321 45 05:27 96 (11) 98 (7) 101 (10) 103 (11) 99 (6)
62 Rabbitoh 100 05:31 91 (19) 109 (20) 87 (19) 105 (19) 105 (23)
63 esmeralda 82 05:32 105 (19) 103 (17) 94 (17) 99 (15) 95 (14)
64 Freemers 111 05:32 96 (24) 91 (22) 89 (23) 92 (21) 131 (21)
65 cmcnsmith 38 05:37 94 (9) 109 (8) 100 (6) 97 (7) 97 (8)
66 Penfold_61 60 05:40 97 (16) 112 (8) 93 (15) 100 (6) 102 (15)
67 rrricharrrd 84 05:41 98 (18) 103 (19) 93 (16) 100 (15) 103 (16)
68 Finzi 125 05:44 102 (26) 100 (26) 93 (26) 99 (25) 106 (22)
69 Looch 118 05:47 93 (22) 104 (23) 91 (25) 107 (24) 102 (24)
70 Encota 110 05:49 98 (23) 95 (21) 93 (22) 100 (21) 111 (23)
71 RobR 48 05:51 95 (11) 92 (7) 97 (9) 94 (11) 119 (10)
72 KET 65 05:57 92 (11) 105 (17) 93 (13) 98 (11) 106 (13)
73 KarenR 65 05:58 90 (12) 110 (13) 91 (14) 106 (14) 100 (12)
74 Adelaider 51 06:02 105 (9) 96 (9) 103 (9) 97 (14) 98 (10)
75 Riche 85 06:02 100 (18) 103 (14) 95 (20) 96 (16) 105 (17)
76 chriswestontour 50 06:04 94 (9) 100 (11) 101 (12) 97 (7) 104 (11)
77 mcrossib1 78 06:04 85 (17) 98 (15) 92 (13) 97 (14) 121 (19)
78 Paul Hammond 79 06:07 94 (15) 114 (17) 92 (15) 102 (15) 94 (17)
79 mw7000 82 06:08 92 (15) 97 (15) 98 (22) 98 (16) 114 (14)
80 julian_w 83 06:13 95 (19) 109 (19) 92 (19) 104 (14) 99 (12)
81 Carol 57 06:14 100 (12) 115 (9) 94 (13) 95 (12) 98 (11)
82 jimwetzler 72 06:19 89 (13) 100 (14) 98 (18) 106 (12) 104 (15)
83 Shabbo 75 06:22 87 (16) 112 (15) 93 (15) 96 (12) 109 (17)
84 Adrian Cobb 83 06:23 90 (12) 102 (16) 92 (21) 109 (17) 103 (17)
85 Streaky Bacon 48 06:24 86 (9) 104 (10) 90 (12) 92 (9) 132 (8)
86 Dzhigit 108 06:24 88 (23) 106 (20) 105 (23) 93 (21) 108 (21)
87 Mike C 112 06:28 96 (24) 109 (24) 90 (20) 105 (22) 96 (22)
88 Tudds 111 06:31 98 (25) 108 (20) 90 (25) 96 (19) 107 (22)
89 hopkinb 112 06:31 96 (23) 102 (20) 100 (24) 99 (24) 101 (21)
90 PGooden 112 06:34 94 (24) 102 (20) 89 (24) 97 (21) 117 (23)
91 SBQuick 76 06:36 89 (13) 98 (17) 91 (13) 99 (18) 119 (15)
92 ilan 101 06:42 100 (24) 104 (19) 98 (18) 101 (22) 94 (18)
93 Vannyx 77 06:45 106 (14) 98 (16) 99 (16) 97 (18) 99 (13)
94 Kevin Gregg 82 06:46 99 (15) 106 (17) 94 (19) 98 (14) 101 (17)
95 andrewfeist96 74 06:47 101 (13) 98 (14) 100 (16) 97 (14) 101 (17)
96 GMcD 117 06:47 98 (23) 103 (26) 87 (25) 94 (21) 115 (22)
97 robinh 106 06:48 100 (23) 103 (21) 95 (23) 100 (20) 100 (19)
98 jon 76 06:51 103 (18) 109 (17) 92 (16) 87 (12) 101 (13)
99 hazyfantazee 44 06:54 86 (6) 89 (10) 91 (8) 106 (10) 119 (10)
100 paul.whitehouse69 81 06:56 98 (19) 111 (15) 100 (18) 98 (18) 90 (11)
101 James P 104 06:57 98 (23) 102 (15) 93 (23) 101 (23) 106 (20)
102 Kalakuta72 47 07:00 92 (11) 118 (9) 82 (9) 105 (9) 103 (9)
103 Onelug 50 07:06 97 (11) 119 (9) 101 (12) 83 (9) 97 (9)
104 Nangle 83 07:06 90 (15) 101 (17) 92 (18) 101 (16) 113 (17)
105 tds 46 07:09 98 (8) 98 (6) 100 (10) 101 (9) 100 (13)
106 Puzzleplease 103 07:11 101 (21) 108 (20) 93 (18) 100 (23) 95 (21)
107 uvofiz 98 07:14 95 (16) 108 (20) 91 (21) 97 (24) 106 (17)
108 FraserH 90 07:17 102 (17) 103 (21) 91 (20) 100 (17) 102 (15)
109 KenD51 74 07:18 98 (12) 98 (18) 104 (15) 98 (10) 100 (19)
110 Dvynys 70 07:25 95 (14) 107 (15) 86 (17) 106 (12) 107 (12)
111 Corymbia 108 07:25 103 (21) 103 (20) 90 (22) 95 (23) 106 (22)
112 valerian1967 79 07:26 100 (21) 100 (18) 86 (13) 105 (14) 106 (13)
113 ChrisBrea 99 07:29 105 (22) 99 (18) 90 (18) 101 (22) 101 (19)
114 janesa 65 07:32 96 (15) 107 (13) 99 (11) 96 (14) 100 (12)
115 martinede 69 07:34 101 (17) 103 (15) 93 (14) 96 (10) 103 (13)
116 Obrador 56 07:35 102 (13) 99 (17) 86 (7) 93 (10) 115 (9)
117 1234 66 07:39 99 (17) 107 (12) 92 (10) 98 (12) 101 (15)
118 dr.shred 44 07:40 89 (12) 119 (9) 100 (7) 92 (8) 101 (8)
119 CrystalPip 44 07:40 99 (8) 96 (9) 90 (10) 113 (8) 102 (9)
120 Mike Harper 120 07:40 98 (23) 95 (24) 92 (23) 104 (25) 108 (25)
121 Jamie Fox 40 07:45 110 (7) 114 (8) 89 (9) 85 (9) 105 (7)
122 DamienKnapma 89 07:54 102 (14) 100 (18) 93 (23) 106 (19) 97 (15)
123 drginacoco 65 07:55 97 (13) 79 (11) 86 (12) 111 (14) 117 (15)
124 wwicksteed 48 07:57 101 (8) 102 (10) 98 (10) 102 (11) 94 (9)
125 Desdeeloeste 85 07:57 105 (18) 99 (17) 93 (17) 101 (18) 98 (15)
126 endafk 106 08:09 100 (22) 102 (20) 93 (23) 99 (21) 106 (20)
127 Aldus 40 08:12 88 (6) 106 (10) 108 (7) 96 (10) 96 (7)
128 plett11 122 08:12 98 (24) 98 (23) 91 (25) 104 (25) 106 (25)
129 John Arnold 82 08:16 98 (16) 105 (22) 95 (17) 101 (13) 97 (14)
130 TomHerbert 80 08:17 90 (15) 97 (19) 100 (17) 106 (17) 107 (12)
131 Templar Redux 97 08:17 102 (21) 104 (21) 92 (23) 96 (14) 104 (18)
132 johndun 119 08:22 92 (23) 102 (23) 98 (25) 102 (26) 103 (22)
133 ulaca 98 08:23 93 (22) 105 (17) 91 (20) 98 (20) 112 (19)
134 Sheen 71 08:24 102 (22) 104 (10) 90 (15) 103 (13) 100 (11)
135 jaraab 50 08:25 91 (14) 108 (7) 91 (9) 109 (10) 103 (10)
136 hipponym 68 08:29 84 (14) 137 (14) 76 (15) 101 (14) 102 (11)
137 Zabadak3 106 08:32 90 (16) 101 (24) 97 (25) 95 (18) 111 (23)
138 nigelmzzz 105 08:36 97 (17) 104 (21) 95 (24) 98 (19) 103 (24)
139 OldSolver 47 08:39 91 (8) 109 (10) 91 (12) 103 (9) 106 (8)
140 goblin 129 08:39 94 (26) 105 (25) 91 (26) 102 (26) 106 (26)
141 vefatica 84 08:41 97 (18) 104 (15) 96 (17) 99 (19) 102 (15)
142 mattindoha 100 08:43 101 (20) 99 (17) 95 (23) 102 (19) 100 (21)
143 m5harp 77 08:46 100 (19) 95 (13) 82 (11) 100 (15) 113 (19)
144 crucihacker 79 08:48 94 (18) 104 (16) 103 (18) 97 (13) 100 (14)
145 Edprof 53 08:51 97 (6) 114 (13) 87 (10) 97 (15) 99 (9)
146 kath 54 08:52 94 (8) 108 (7) 91 (13) 101 (14) 105 (12)
147 crosswordian 64 08:52 97 (14) 96 (14) 94 (13) 101 (13) 111 (10)
148 vinyl12345 83 08:52 93 (19) 101 (14) 101 (20) 99 (17) 106 (13)
149 Jeeves 111 08:53 93 (25) 101 (23) 95 (20) 105 (23) 103 (20)
150 uffindellbirtjn 56 08:54 93 (13) 100 (12) 105 (9) 105 (11) 98 (11)
151 gsriordan52 96 08:54 92 (20) 97 (19) 99 (18) 104 (22) 106 (17)
152 dec 55 08:57 97 (14) 106 (10) 92 (10) 99 (13) 107 (8)
153 luxtonj61 104 08:59 97 (20) 102 (21) 96 (23) 98 (21) 104 (19)
154 GMB 52 09:06 96 (10) 99 (12) 97 (12) 105 (11) 100 (7)
155 Mkgnao 105 09:06 95 (21) 104 (22) 93 (24) 111 (18) 98 (20)
156 smalley552 63 09:11 88 (13) 116 (13) 98 (14) 100 (10) 96 (13)
157 raincloud 68 09:14 85 (10) 103 (14) 95 (18) 97 (14) 118 (12)
158 Deezzaa 107 09:14 93 (21) 102 (22) 97 (24) 101 (23) 107 (17)
159 richardCV22 94 09:18 91 (17) 110 (21) 84 (18) 102 (19) 107 (19)
160 Doyler 67 09:33 100 (12) 112 (14) 84 (15) 100 (15) 104 (11)
161 barracuda 102 09:38 92 (21) 106 (19) 90 (22) 106 (20) 105 (20)
162 piltdown man 53 09:39 94 (14) 107 (13) 106 (10) 84 (9) 109 (7)
163 hemantyd 55 09:51 84 (10) 100 (10) 106 (14) 97 (9) 107 (12)
164 Poff 62 09:53 89 (12) 103 (12) 111 (12) 93 (15) 103 (11)
165 Cryptique 45 09:56 81 (8) 122 (11) 88 (10) 107 (10) 90 (6)
166 iholloway 33 10:17 77 (6) 97 (6) 100 (8) 101 (7) 122 (6)
167 Word Psmith 56 10:22 101 (9) 105 (12) 95 (16) 100 (9) 98 (10)
168 maisiemae 74 10:23 91 (15) 128 (10) 94 (16) 95 (17) 100 (16)
169 Nuck_the_king 74 10:23 102 (15) 118 (14) 88 (15) 86 (15) 105 (15)
170 Rhys 38 10:30 87 (7) 96 (7) 86 (7) 119 (11) 99 (6)
171 starstruck 71 10:35 88 (12) 94 (12) 92 (14) 107 (11) 110 (22)
172 annikins 58 10:39 98 (13) 118 (11) 88 (11) 91 (11) 103 (12)
173 Birdingbob 103 10:41 103 (23) 101 (18) 94 (23) 100 (20) 100 (19)
174 TonyN6 94 11:00 86 (17) 101 (15) 82 (21) 107 (21) 120 (20)
175 horners1974 50 11:01 96 (10) 108 (8) 88 (11) 104 (12) 103 (9)
176 simjt 114 11:33 94 (23) 108 (23) 89 (24) 101 (23) 107 (21)
177 Dr. Memory 40 11:45 98 (11) 95 (9) 105 (6) 106 (7) 96 (7)
178 BertieVII 94 11:47 88 (18) 103 (19) 88 (19) 91 (20) 129 (18)
179 youngbaz 74 11:52 90 (13) 111 (13) 98 (18) 103 (16) 95 (14)
180 intentional rounding 89 12:28 92 (17) 108 (17) 91 (19) 106 (17) 101 (19)
181 tyrotim 76 12:43 98 (14) 113 (16) 94 (17) 92 (13) 99 (16)
182 rlowin2 56 12:45 100 (14) 94 (9) 98 (12) 112 (12) 90 (9)
183 alistair.boere 93 12:56 95 (17) 96 (17) 101 (18) 102 (20) 102 (21)
184 ifincham2 61 13:08 104 (11) 100 (10) 99 (11) 96 (13) 100 (16)
185 martinr486 82 13:15 108 (17) 107 (16) 88 (20) 104 (14) 93 (15)
186 WordPlodder 89 13:16 95 (21) 101 (15) 101 (22) 91 (18) 114 (13)
187 Sonofjim 54 13:40 95 (10) 114 (16) 106 (7) 93 (12) 83 (9)
188 kapietro 111 13:51 100 (23) 97 (23) 84 (18) 98 (23) 116 (24)
189 nigel 44 14:32 35 (9) 55 (9) 48 (10) 306 (9) 48 (7)
190 The Real Steve Snackman 111 14:52 96 (22) 110 (23) 90 (25) 100 (22) 102 (19)
191 Mendes 82 15:32 97 (17) 114 (16) 89 (15) 105 (17) 92 (17)
192 Jax74 41 15:38 84 (8) 100 (9) 96 (10) 125 (8) 92 (6)
193 kfb20 61 16:04 99 (17) 103 (13) 93 (10) 99 (13) 104 (8)
194 Charpentier 56 16:09 80 (9) 98 (15) 97 (8) 114 (12) 103 (12)
195 Steve Wood 103 16:46 91 (21) 108 (25) 98 (21) 100 (19) 99 (17)
196 Xebeq 49 17:11 116 (6) 99 (7) 94 (14) 89 (9) 106 (13)
197 tomtom2 74 18:14 93 (11) 97 (15) 100 (16) 94 (16) 111 (16)
198 Mark from Ipswich 56 18:31 97 (11) 94 (11) 103 (12) 100 (13) 105 (9)
199 TonyK 101 19:01 93 (19) 96 (19) 93 (21) 106 (23) 109 (19)
200 Hazelnut 38 20:13 95 (9) 113 (7) 100 (9) 97 (7) 94 (6)
201 ian.shepherd 80 20:39 89 (16) 118 (17) 96 (19) 95 (17) 100 (11)
202 Geldart 61 21:32 88 (12) 88 (14) 111 (13) 95 (11) 118 (11)
203 maryht 94 21:36 94 (19) 98 (17) 98 (17) 90 (18) 113 (23)
204 pfalloon 107 21:58 100 (23) 78 (18) 97 (21) 144 (22) 75 (23)
205 dominic.c-b 44 24:08 105 (10) 98 (10) 82 (7) 113 (10) 92 (7)
206 pamelalewis51 74 24:31 105 (12) 92 (12) 92 (20) 121 (15) 90 (15)
207 deebeeem 75 48:41 53 (16) 45 (16) 154 (13) 164 (17) 84 (13)
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