Quick SNITCH

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

Reference solvers for December 2025

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 59 01:57 92 (16) 100 (10) 100 (13) 95 (8) 112 (12)
2 Paul Gilbert 120 02:05 85 (25) 97 (24) 103 (23) 102 (25) 112 (23)
3 cmjhutton 105 02:06 91 (22) 96 (20) 100 (22) 104 (22) 107 (19)
4 lili 126 02:13 88 (26) 96 (26) 99 (25) 98 (26) 116 (23)
5 mistigris 104 02:34 87 (21) 97 (19) 105 (23) 105 (20) 105 (21)
6 Jason 116 02:35 81 (19) 100 (25) 100 (24) 100 (25) 115 (23)
7 verlaine 127 02:35 90 (26) 99 (24) 101 (25) 99 (26) 109 (26)
8 Magoo 112 02:36 87 (23) 94 (21) 103 (22) 94 (22) 117 (24)
9 hilarym 101 02:45 90 (24) 98 (23) 97 (20) 104 (19) 116 (15)
10 aphis99 123 02:47 83 (26) 92 (25) 104 (23) 102 (25) 117 (24)
11 HoneyBadger 124 03:06 86 (22) 94 (25) 101 (25) 103 (26) 111 (26)
12 Flimmy flammy 123 03:10 89 (26) 97 (25) 98 (24) 103 (26) 113 (22)
13 Ciolf 111 03:15 85 (21) 99 (24) 99 (21) 100 (23) 114 (22)
14 Amoeba89 120 03:16 83 (24) 98 (25) 107 (23) 95 (25) 116 (23)
15 markdobell 118 03:24 88 (23) 93 (24) 102 (24) 104 (24) 110 (23)
16 Wizard of Aus 56 03:30 87 (10) 104 (11) 102 (14) 98 (14) 108 (7)
17 richard 72 03:30 90 (14) 100 (17) 100 (16) 101 (16) 109 (9)
18 Heyesey 111 03:35 93 (23) 96 (23) 98 (20) 101 (23) 109 (22)
19 SimonAnthony 118 03:47 88 (22) 97 (26) 107 (24) 99 (24) 107 (22)
20 Deane Short 96 03:49 92 (21) 95 (15) 106 (22) 94 (20) 110 (18)
21 AlanS 49 03:50 92 (15) 107 (13) 90 (7) 100 (8) 110 (6)
22 Kinghedger 109 03:52 89 (23) 91 (22) 96 (21) 110 (21) 112 (22)
23 glheard 87 03:59 90 (20) 95 (14) 105 (16) 92 (21) 119 (16)
24 MikeOsborne 113 04:07 88 (23) 91 (24) 99 (23) 106 (23) 117 (20)
25 Topical Tim 103 04:10 88 (23) 94 (20) 99 (19) 110 (20) 107 (21)
26 EricK 118 04:11 82 (24) 98 (22) 101 (23) 100 (25) 115 (24)
27 Bluejacket 110 04:14 86 (22) 94 (22) 99 (23) 110 (20) 109 (23)
28 JayEm 100 04:24 85 (20) 99 (21) 101 (19) 103 (22) 110 (18)
29 tiggis 61 04:26 89 (12) 98 (15) 106 (11) 92 (10) 112 (13)
30 lickert 119 04:27 96 (25) 86 (23) 97 (23) 104 (24) 113 (24)
31 tilbee 97 04:29 93 (21) 94 (18) 105 (20) 98 (18) 107 (20)
32 andrewlake 116 04:29 89 (25) 108 (20) 93 (23) 100 (22) 108 (26)
33 chindit 113 04:31 90 (21) 92 (24) 103 (22) 103 (23) 108 (23)
34 canismiser 78 04:34 95 (20) 91 (15) 104 (14) 101 (17) 108 (12)
35 Morphosis 49 04:35 93 (12) 98 (9) 104 (12) 93 (6) 106 (10)
36 philjordan1147 108 04:35 89 (23) 95 (23) 99 (18) 102 (22) 114 (22)
37 Jon Delfin 122 04:37 84 (24) 90 (26) 103 (22) 103 (25) 117 (25)
38 Aybee 118 04:39 85 (23) 100 (23) 101 (24) 103 (23) 108 (25)
39 lucyg43484 107 04:41 81 (24) 98 (21) 95 (20) 108 (21) 118 (21)
40 alexh 110 04:41 87 (24) 96 (20) 103 (21) 105 (25) 107 (20)
41 Tom Stubbs 118 04:41 88 (25) 99 (23) 100 (23) 101 (23) 111 (24)
42 March 121 04:42 92 (26) 97 (23) 102 (24) 99 (24) 109 (24)
43 benbush 49 04:44 86 (10) 95 (9) 100 (13) 102 (9) 118 (8)
44 rrricharrrd 102 04:44 80 (23) 91 (17) 99 (19) 106 (24) 122 (19)
45 MK76 104 04:44 83 (22) 96 (19) 104 (23) 101 (23) 117 (17)
46 scrabbler 74 04:45 89 (16) 100 (15) 105 (15) 92 (14) 113 (14)
47 Ed freshpot 102 04:45 88 (23) 92 (22) 100 (19) 111 (20) 109 (18)
48 Liari 43 04:46 87 (9) 109 (8) 105 (7) 107 (8) 94 (11)
49 LouWeed 112 04:47 83 (25) 89 (21) 108 (24) 104 (24) 118 (18)
50 Freemers 54 04:48 81 (10) 100 (11) 103 (11) 95 (11) 116 (11)
51 ram80 58 04:48 90 (10) 99 (10) 109 (13) 99 (12) 97 (13)
52 Freemers1968 60 04:49 79 (14) 91 (11) 90 (11) 137 (13) 100 (11)
53 andy 114 04:51 87 (22) 87 (23) 107 (23) 105 (24) 111 (22)
54 The Dabbler 59 04:52 96 (13) 97 (12) 101 (14) 103 (11) 101 (9)
55 d.middleton 37 04:55 93 (10) 103 (8) 101 (7) 101 (6) 102 (6)
56 neilr 94 05:00 85 (18) 95 (21) 107 (20) 100 (22) 116 (13)
57 Riche 84 05:02 92 (21) 93 (14) 98 (16) 100 (18) 116 (15)
58 Zander 105 05:02 85 (23) 103 (21) 105 (20) 96 (23) 114 (18)
59 Squallaby 111 05:02 87 (22) 95 (22) 103 (21) 98 (23) 115 (23)
60 lyndaw 42 05:05 87 (11) 95 (7) 98 (9) 111 (8) 112 (7)
61 Streaky Bacon 71 05:07 94 (16) 96 (15) 99 (15) 103 (16) 110 (9)
62 Vannyx 82 05:07 90 (21) 88 (17) 115 (15) 107 (16) 103 (13)
63 AndyKnott321 58 05:08 90 (14) 101 (11) 105 (12) 96 (12) 111 (9)
64 Paul Hammond 85 05:08 85 (16) 94 (18) 104 (15) 102 (18) 111 (18)
65 Rabbitoh 98 05:08 89 (19) 91 (20) 109 (20) 102 (21) 107 (18)
66 ChuckB 55 05:09 95 (15) 98 (13) 98 (9) 106 (10) 104 (8)
67 babka 83 05:10 78 (17) 99 (16) 99 (17) 102 (16) 121 (17)
68 Tibthorpe 99 05:10 90 (23) 101 (17) 97 (22) 102 (19) 108 (18)
69 7dPenguin 105 05:15 87 (25) 89 (16) 102 (19) 97 (24) 124 (21)
70 KarenR 93 05:17 83 (17) 90 (21) 104 (20) 102 (17) 118 (18)
71 Anomalospiza 100 05:19 85 (21) 94 (20) 108 (19) 98 (19) 112 (21)
72 mcrossib1 51 05:20 90 (11) 94 (13) 110 (7) 94 (10) 116 (10)
73 dr.shred 76 05:20 87 (16) 88 (15) 106 (12) 104 (15) 112 (18)
74 SBQuick 46 05:21 91 (10) 101 (9) 102 (10) 102 (10) 101 (7)
75 chriswestontour 59 05:25 94 (15) 97 (14) 100 (12) 106 (11) 105 (7)
76 Encota 92 05:27 92 (14) 93 (20) 108 (23) 96 (18) 106 (17)
77 thewanderingeditor 49 05:29 77 (11) 100 (10) 105 (8) 109 (12) 111 (8)
78 nina s 82 05:30 88 (17) 103 (16) 99 (16) 113 (17) 96 (16)
79 esmeralda 88 05:32 85 (18) 92 (19) 106 (20) 110 (15) 108 (16)
80 Looch 105 05:34 88 (20) 93 (21) 107 (21) 100 (22) 110 (21)
81 andrewfeist96 78 05:41 84 (17) 87 (17) 106 (13) 105 (16) 121 (15)
82 Mike C 80 05:41 87 (16) 94 (15) 101 (17) 103 (19) 115 (13)
83 Carol 57 05:42 85 (14) 95 (6) 97 (11) 95 (12) 122 (14)
84 Finzi 121 05:45 91 (25) 98 (25) 102 (22) 101 (25) 106 (24)
85 Onelug 58 05:47 87 (16) 95 (11) 111 (15) 112 (7) 98 (9)
86 hopkinb 102 05:53 86 (22) 94 (20) 105 (21) 106 (19) 108 (20)
87 julian_w 80 05:54 90 (15) 100 (19) 101 (15) 96 (15) 110 (16)
88 Crossiant 100 05:56 84 (17) 96 (20) 96 (18) 102 (22) 114 (23)
89 mw7000 53 05:59 68 (11) 89 (9) 99 (11) 86 (13) 170 (9)
90 Rosron 46 06:00 83 (10) 99 (7) 108 (11) 102 (10) 106 (8)
91 paul.whitehouse69 63 06:00 88 (16) 98 (15) 108 (11) 103 (11) 104 (10)
92 PGooden 86 06:01 87 (18) 95 (19) 93 (16) 106 (15) 118 (18)
93 Tudds 101 06:04 91 (20) 94 (23) 99 (21) 105 (19) 110 (18)
94 Dzhigit 102 06:14 80 (19) 93 (19) 97 (22) 102 (22) 123 (20)
95 James P 97 06:20 85 (19) 90 (20) 104 (18) 98 (21) 122 (19)
96 Adrian Cobb 70 06:21 89 (13) 95 (18) 99 (13) 104 (16) 116 (10)
97 Jamie Fox 103 06:27 87 (22) 92 (21) 110 (20) 95 (19) 114 (21)
98 mjsaunders9 106 06:31 83 (21) 97 (22) 107 (21) 101 (18) 109 (24)
99 jon 58 06:33 87 (6) 92 (14) 95 (13) 99 (11) 116 (14)
100 jimwetzler 61 06:35 82 (14) 93 (13) 107 (12) 103 (11) 119 (11)
101 uvofiz 91 06:35 88 (19) 86 (15) 103 (18) 99 (19) 118 (20)
102 GMcD 91 06:40 83 (19) 91 (18) 105 (19) 102 (16) 117 (19)
103 valerian1967 52 06:44 94 (12) 90 (10) 107 (10) 100 (11) 108 (9)
104 DamienKnapma 85 06:45 89 (19) 93 (17) 101 (17) 99 (15) 117 (17)
105 The Caffeine Kid 57 06:48 87 (13) 90 (13) 101 (11) 109 (9) 117 (11)
106 Dvynys 86 06:53 83 (16) 90 (16) 108 (18) 95 (16) 116 (20)
107 Kevin Gregg 64 06:57 84 (14) 98 (18) 107 (13) 100 (10) 116 (9)
108 Puzzleplease 80 06:58 83 (17) 94 (18) 104 (17) 103 (13) 117 (15)
109 Nangle 66 06:59 83 (12) 88 (12) 112 (14) 99 (13) 110 (15)
110 raincloud 55 07:00 72 (12) 88 (13) 125 (10) 94 (12) 136 (8)
111 ilan 74 07:03 92 (12) 91 (12) 103 (16) 101 (16) 106 (18)
112 mjwiseman 47 07:08 81 (10) 97 (11) 100 (8) 96 (8) 122 (10)
113 Corymbia 79 07:11 81 (15) 93 (14) 103 (15) 99 (17) 118 (18)
114 Desdeeloeste 84 07:22 83 (17) 106 (21) 99 (17) 94 (14) 116 (15)
115 nigel 42 07:23 83 (10) 93 (7) 108 (9) 95 (9) 125 (7)
116 intentional rounding 79 07:24 79 (13) 90 (14) 102 (18) 108 (17) 111 (17)
117 Jamescheck 38 07:27 76 (9) 84 (8) 126 (6) 109 (8) 113 (7)
118 TomHerbert 45 07:28 74 (6) 87 (8) 113 (13) 103 (12) 106 (6)
119 Mike Harper 102 07:28 81 (20) 87 (21) 111 (24) 103 (18) 115 (19)
120 Solving slo mo 51 07:32 116 (6) 101 (11) 91 (10) 94 (12) 102 (12)
121 robinh 83 07:33 85 (15) 104 (13) 98 (16) 101 (19) 107 (20)
122 Templar Redux 110 07:35 84 (21) 98 (24) 102 (23) 98 (21) 116 (21)
123 ChrisBrea 64 07:40 81 (12) 91 (12) 108 (12) 100 (11) 112 (17)
124 plett11 109 07:40 85 (21) 95 (25) 99 (22) 105 (21) 116 (20)
125 John Arnold 56 07:57 92 (12) 92 (12) 95 (9) 104 (11) 114 (12)
126 Mudge 74 08:08 81 (14) 85 (13) 110 (17) 89 (12) 122 (18)
127 ulaca 77 08:08 88 (15) 87 (14) 104 (16) 101 (16) 115 (16)
128 johndun 99 08:08 86 (17) 88 (21) 101 (22) 102 (19) 119 (20)
129 RPY 46 08:16 74 (8) 98 (12) 102 (11) 97 (8) 129 (7)
130 vefatica 59 08:17 90 (15) 101 (15) 102 (9) 100 (9) 107 (11)
131 john.brassey 44 08:19 86 (7) 93 (7) 100 (12) 107 (6) 107 (12)
132 piltdown man 36 08:23 92 (6) 74 (6) 111 (8) 107 (8) 105 (8)
133 mattindoha 73 08:25 90 (9) 88 (16) 105 (13) 95 (17) 115 (18)
134 Jeeves 74 08:28 85 (16) 94 (14) 104 (15) 108 (16) 109 (13)
135 goblin 91 08:30 89 (18) 92 (17) 105 (19) 104 (18) 106 (19)
136 mich_punk 48 08:31 83 (10) 85 (8) 112 (11) 103 (7) 109 (12)
137 gsriordan52 65 08:35 77 (12) 96 (14) 101 (15) 109 (14) 117 (10)
138 nigelmzzz 72 08:35 73 (12) 92 (17) 105 (12) 99 (14) 122 (17)
139 Peloton 62 08:36 77 (10) 93 (10) 109 (12) 112 (13) 100 (17)
140 m5harp 59 08:40 79 (14) 86 (11) 90 (9) 101 (12) 139 (13)
141 timbo 43 08:42 83 (11) 87 (7) 130 (9) 100 (9) 99 (7)
142 crucihacker 52 08:44 97 (12) 87 (11) 90 (9) 100 (11) 128 (9)
143 starstruck 77 08:44 82 (15) 95 (13) 95 (18) 100 (16) 127 (15)
144 vinyl12345 79 08:55 82 (13) 90 (17) 102 (16) 104 (19) 119 (14)
145 Deezzaa 77 09:02 83 (16) 92 (13) 105 (15) 103 (16) 113 (17)
146 Mkgnao 65 09:06 81 (12) 87 (14) 102 (15) 116 (10) 112 (14)
147 E Bradford 53 09:13 81 (10) 93 (13) 123 (10) 100 (11) 104 (9)
148 Kernowdoc 43 09:19 85 (9) 93 (9) 113 (9) 107 (6) 101 (10)
149 crosswordian 51 09:20 82 (9) 80 (10) 103 (10) 99 (9) 123 (13)
150 horners1974 53 09:26 91 (13) 98 (11) 101 (11) 95 (10) 117 (8)
151 johnusa 51 09:30 88 (13) 94 (11) 105 (10) 107 (11) 112 (6)
152 martinr486 51 09:56 88 (14) 95 (9) 109 (14) 93 (7) 115 (7)
153 barracuda 53 09:58 86 (9) 93 (11) 104 (11) 97 (12) 116 (10)
154 The Real Steve Snackman 76 10:08 77 (16) 97 (16) 107 (15) 102 (17) 120 (12)
155 Alias Noble 70 10:11 83 (11) 85 (15) 106 (13) 96 (14) 122 (17)
156 Birdingbob 53 10:26 81 (9) 77 (9) 116 (10) 100 (11) 114 (14)
157 mpbthorpe 47 10:31 101 (12) 83 (8) 83 (7) 108 (10) 113 (10)
158 simjt 98 10:41 89 (18) 92 (20) 97 (20) 105 (21) 113 (19)
159 chabuduo 98 10:48 83 (20) 94 (20) 91 (19) 95 (21) 139 (18)
160 TonyN6 64 10:56 85 (13) 90 (16) 105 (18) 98 (8) 129 (9)
161 Sonofjim 45 10:57 98 (10) 95 (11) 96 (7) 94 (9) 117 (8)
162 maisiemae 58 11:02 86 (11) 74 (10) 100 (11) 105 (11) 122 (15)
163 Muckypuppy 61 11:05 83 (12) 103 (14) 97 (11) 94 (13) 123 (11)
164 youngbaz 36 11:06 85 (8) 102 (8) 112 (6) 94 (7) 108 (7)
165 BertieVII 60 11:33 81 (13) 98 (10) 111 (12) 99 (13) 110 (12)
166 kapietro 88 11:47 85 (14) 92 (18) 106 (19) 99 (19) 113 (18)
167 suethepotterer 56 11:48 93 (11) 92 (11) 104 (9) 97 (10) 109 (15)
168 Mark from Ipswich 72 11:50 80 (12) 85 (13) 101 (16) 110 (15) 115 (16)
169 WordPlodder 107 11:57 94 (21) 86 (22) 108 (21) 96 (22) 113 (21)
170 Steve Wood 75 12:02 87 (15) 82 (12) 105 (16) 101 (16) 117 (16)
171 tyrotim 58 12:10 80 (12) 86 (10) 103 (12) 106 (14) 123 (10)
172 pfalloon 68 12:23 83 (14) 80 (10) 101 (16) 121 (15) 106 (13)
173 david.14587 52 12:26 67 (15) 78 (10) 123 (8) 132 (11) 118 (8)
174 Mendes 78 13:29 94 (16) 92 (16) 99 (17) 98 (15) 116 (14)
175 kfb20 59 14:48 86 (12) 74 (11) 114 (10) 109 (14) 114 (12)
176 Guy Hatton 39 14:51 84 (6) 104 (10) 96 (8) 100 (9) 112 (6)
177 RPE10538 53 15:12 79 (8) 95 (14) 90 (12) 113 (12) 125 (7)
178 ian.shepherd 42 17:25 82 (9) 96 (9) 108 (7) 88 (7) 121 (10)
179 TonyK 51 18:40 91 (7) 95 (11) 104 (9) 99 (11) 106 (13)
180 bangsar 63 19:11 89 (11) 88 (15) 92 (11) 105 (16) 128 (10)
181 Geldart 40 20:01 100 (6) 81 (7) 98 (8) 98 (10) 116 (9)
182 tomtom2 62 20:25 63 (14) 75 (10) 162 (15) 73 (11) 109 (12)
183 revolting tonic 48 27:28 96 (12) 82 (6) 110 (8) 102 (12) 103 (10)
184 andybry 55 33:44 79 (11) 85 (10) 111 (11) 96 (12) 125 (11)
185 crossworder 69 42:52 82 (15) 82 (15) 104 (11) 103 (12) 126 (16)
186 mcfarl 67 58:13 59 (13) 105 (16) 134 (14) 75 (14) 129 (10)
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