Quick SNITCH

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

Reference solvers for July 2026

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 cmjhutton 86 02:06 82 (17) 94 (18) 102 (17) 108 (18) 115 (16)
2 Paul Gilbert 120 02:08 83 (25) 107 (24) 99 (25) 101 (23) 108 (23)
3 lili 115 02:11 80 (25) 97 (23) 104 (21) 109 (22) 109 (24)
4 verlaine 120 02:32 85 (25) 97 (24) 108 (23) 102 (24) 108 (24)
5 Jason 119 02:33 84 (22) 96 (26) 100 (21) 109 (25) 108 (25)
6 Magoo 68 02:35 83 (16) 99 (13) 104 (12) 112 (13) 104 (14)
7 mistigris 92 02:40 83 (16) 98 (17) 104 (18) 108 (21) 103 (20)
8 aphis99 121 02:41 84 (25) 95 (23) 100 (26) 107 (23) 111 (24)
9 hilarym 104 02:50 85 (23) 101 (21) 103 (22) 108 (19) 102 (19)
10 HoneyBadger 126 02:52 87 (26) 102 (25) 99 (24) 106 (25) 106 (26)
11 Amoeba89 115 03:08 86 (22) 90 (25) 106 (24) 110 (21) 106 (23)
12 Askival 114 03:09 80 (25) 101 (23) 104 (22) 105 (22) 111 (22)
13 Flimmy flammy 125 03:18 84 (26) 90 (24) 105 (25) 102 (26) 117 (24)
14 Ciolf 111 03:19 81 (22) 100 (23) 105 (24) 104 (22) 109 (20)
15 Deane Short 89 03:21 85 (20) 94 (20) 104 (16) 115 (16) 106 (17)
16 philjordan1147 120 03:22 90 (25) 94 (24) 104 (26) 107 (24) 103 (21)
17 markdobell 112 03:27 82 (22) 99 (21) 107 (23) 110 (24) 100 (22)
18 Heyesey 105 03:31 79 (23) 97 (19) 107 (22) 114 (21) 102 (20)
19 richard 68 03:34 88 (15) 98 (16) 106 (15) 102 (10) 107 (12)
20 Aybee 66 03:37 93 (21) 105 (16) 102 (13) 102 (10) 98 (6)
21 SimonAnthony 116 03:48 80 (25) 90 (23) 100 (22) 112 (23) 117 (23)
22 glheard 99 03:54 83 (20) 94 (21) 106 (23) 104 (19) 114 (16)
23 Kinghedger 105 03:57 91 (22) 97 (21) 99 (23) 110 (21) 103 (18)
24 Topical Tim 108 04:03 86 (23) 101 (24) 104 (21) 107 (20) 103 (20)
25 EricK 123 04:04 83 (25) 100 (26) 99 (22) 107 (25) 108 (25)
26 Umpire 70 04:07 77 (15) 89 (16) 104 (13) 115 (12) 119 (14)
27 MikeOsborneMason 103 04:09 86 (23) 93 (23) 103 (22) 110 (20) 110 (15)
28 clarkeybaby 118 04:12 79 (22) 96 (24) 105 (24) 110 (26) 105 (22)
29 cdb_100 87 04:19 81 (21) 101 (19) 108 (17) 110 (17) 103 (13)
30 MK76 96 04:27 93 (24) 92 (18) 105 (17) 104 (18) 105 (19)
31 Liari 43 04:28 86 (10) 101 (10) 96 (10) 112 (6) 113 (7)
32 tilbee 106 04:29 82 (20) 96 (21) 104 (21) 107 (20) 106 (24)
33 lickert 120 04:29 82 (26) 90 (22) 103 (25) 101 (24) 123 (23)
34 alexh 104 04:31 85 (22) 96 (21) 105 (20) 106 (21) 106 (20)
35 rrricharrrd 102 04:36 77 (23) 94 (20) 105 (22) 113 (21) 114 (16)
36 JayEm 109 04:36 76 (22) 99 (21) 101 (24) 109 (21) 113 (21)
37 March 117 04:37 85 (24) 97 (25) 102 (24) 107 (22) 107 (22)
38 canismiser 92 04:38 85 (21) 100 (20) 105 (21) 107 (15) 104 (15)
39 daulbs 100 04:38 78 (23) 90 (20) 106 (19) 111 (19) 117 (19)
40 Jon Delfin 119 04:38 77 (24) 94 (24) 103 (24) 109 (23) 115 (24)
41 chindit 115 04:39 89 (22) 94 (23) 108 (21) 105 (24) 102 (25)
42 andrewlake 118 04:42 75 (25) 105 (22) 107 (23) 111 (26) 101 (22)
43 Morphosis 38 04:43 94 (8) 102 (7) 101 (7) 101 (10) 99 (6)
44 LouWeed 116 04:48 82 (25) 95 (25) 99 (22) 117 (24) 106 (20)
45 Vannyx 97 04:49 77 (23) 93 (15) 113 (19) 101 (21) 116 (19)
46 Anomalospiza 104 04:49 82 (24) 99 (22) 100 (21) 104 (17) 117 (20)
47 d.middleton 49 04:50 85 (15) 102 (11) 112 (8) 106 (9) 107 (6)
48 benbush 78 04:51 84 (16) 90 (19) 101 (12) 108 (15) 118 (16)
49 Tom Stubbs 124 04:52 89 (26) 100 (26) 99 (24) 107 (23) 105 (25)
50 fishernick79 49 04:53 89 (12) 94 (13) 100 (9) 118 (8) 105 (7)
51 neilr 87 04:53 84 (21) 98 (20) 104 (13) 109 (20) 106 (13)
52 Riche 95 04:53 90 (24) 101 (22) 101 (20) 105 (15) 106 (14)
53 chriswords 40 04:58 86 (6) 101 (9) 102 (8) 106 (9) 99 (8)
54 andy 95 04:58 91 (18) 97 (18) 105 (22) 98 (19) 106 (18)
55 The Dabbler 84 05:00 89 (21) 102 (19) 103 (16) 106 (12) 104 (16)
56 Zander 105 05:03 83 (22) 100 (21) 98 (21) 114 (20) 104 (21)
57 trux 81 05:05 84 (16) 98 (17) 103 (20) 112 (17) 98 (11)
58 Rabbitoh 127 05:13 85 (26) 94 (25) 106 (25) 109 (26) 104 (25)
59 Squallaby 113 05:14 86 (26) 97 (21) 107 (21) 107 (22) 104 (23)
60 Ed freshpot 107 05:15 80 (24) 92 (23) 110 (19) 106 (22) 115 (19)
61 Paul Hammond 58 05:16 81 (13) 96 (11) 112 (11) 107 (11) 103 (12)
62 Streaky Bacon 94 05:17 84 (19) 94 (17) 103 (18) 106 (18) 110 (22)
63 chriswestontour 54 05:19 91 (16) 98 (13) 107 (7) 103 (11) 109 (7)
64 ChuckB 61 05:19 90 (18) 97 (13) 110 (7) 105 (9) 104 (14)
65 lyndaw 94 05:21 88 (23) 96 (22) 106 (19) 109 (18) 105 (12)
66 Encota 111 05:24 88 (23) 103 (22) 99 (23) 104 (22) 104 (21)
67 inca1 108 05:26 82 (24) 93 (22) 100 (23) 110 (22) 118 (17)
68 SBQuick 43 05:32 90 (9) 108 (7) 101 (11) 101 (7) 101 (9)
69 KET 64 05:32 80 (16) 102 (15) 104 (10) 115 (11) 104 (12)
70 Mike C 71 05:34 86 (15) 104 (15) 101 (17) 106 (13) 102 (11)
71 nina s 76 05:37 87 (14) 94 (13) 97 (17) 112 (17) 105 (15)
72 7dPenguin 113 05:37 85 (22) 93 (21) 108 (21) 105 (24) 105 (25)
73 Looch 111 05:39 85 (23) 92 (21) 103 (21) 99 (22) 118 (24)
74 julian_w 80 05:40 84 (18) 96 (17) 105 (20) 115 (15) 99 (10)
75 Tibthorpe 116 05:40 81 (24) 94 (25) 103 (22) 109 (23) 112 (22)
76 Finzi 125 05:40 87 (25) 101 (25) 102 (26) 107 (25) 100 (24)
77 KarenR 94 05:44 84 (18) 96 (19) 96 (18) 106 (20) 115 (19)
78 rob.rolfe42 56 05:45 86 (16) 107 (10) 101 (13) 119 (9) 95 (8)
79 esmeralda 90 05:46 78 (22) 97 (19) 97 (17) 106 (15) 127 (17)
80 Crossiant 105 05:53 77 (19) 96 (21) 105 (21) 107 (21) 110 (23)
81 mjsaunders9 117 05:54 85 (24) 98 (25) 101 (22) 110 (24) 106 (22)
82 scrabbler 55 05:58 82 (11) 92 (12) 107 (12) 114 (9) 104 (11)
83 hopkinb 92 06:01 83 (19) 101 (20) 99 (15) 105 (18) 109 (20)
84 Dzhigit 99 06:04 84 (22) 91 (21) 113 (19) 107 (17) 105 (20)
85 Tudds 114 06:04 84 (23) 97 (24) 102 (22) 107 (23) 108 (22)
86 james150374 109 06:09 81 (23) 91 (21) 105 (23) 113 (22) 110 (20)
87 Jamie Fox 126 06:12 77 (26) 90 (26) 104 (26) 122 (24) 108 (24)
88 Kalakuta72 43 06:16 82 (11) 104 (6) 110 (9) 94 (10) 119 (7)
89 Curarist 86 06:17 85 (21) 95 (17) 109 (19) 110 (20) 102 (9)
90 PGooden 112 06:22 82 (22) 92 (22) 104 (24) 102 (23) 117 (21)
91 paul.whitehouse69 75 06:26 76 (20) 94 (15) 124 (16) 106 (15) 107 (9)
92 JPTC 98 06:29 86 (22) 91 (19) 104 (19) 108 (19) 111 (19)
93 jimwetzler 70 06:30 85 (16) 94 (18) 110 (13) 108 (10) 108 (13)
94 James P 105 06:36 77 (24) 98 (22) 104 (16) 110 (21) 112 (22)
95 Rosron 60 06:39 86 (18) 91 (8) 113 (13) 104 (10) 109 (11)
96 as584 67 06:41 74 (17) 107 (9) 108 (15) 106 (14) 113 (12)
97 jon 70 06:43 80 (14) 97 (13) 97 (16) 106 (15) 120 (12)
98 Dvynys 81 06:46 82 (18) 100 (19) 100 (15) 96 (13) 121 (16)
99 GMcD 109 06:49 87 (22) 94 (22) 102 (23) 106 (23) 109 (19)
100 LiamD 106 06:51 78 (21) 88 (20) 100 (21) 114 (21) 116 (23)
101 metagloria 114 06:52 82 (25) 95 (22) 105 (25) 102 (20) 115 (22)
102 tds 65 06:53 85 (12) 98 (12) 94 (12) 107 (14) 110 (15)
103 The Caffeine Kid 75 06:55 79 (17) 88 (13) 110 (19) 114 (11) 110 (15)
104 gnome123 59 06:56 81 (8) 100 (10) 101 (15) 100 (11) 107 (15)
105 Kevin Gregg 79 07:00 92 (23) 106 (18) 99 (17) 104 (10) 102 (11)
106 uvofiz 98 07:00 83 (23) 90 (16) 107 (20) 107 (21) 113 (18)
107 cognominative 48 07:02 69 (13) 86 (9) 151 (8) 98 (10) 116 (8)
108 Adrian Cobb 86 07:03 85 (17) 104 (19) 102 (17) 109 (16) 98 (17)
109 Maitresse 50 07:04 77 (8) 93 (13) 113 (11) 102 (11) 115 (7)
110 cerid 107 07:05 82 (20) 96 (23) 106 (20) 108 (20) 104 (24)
111 smalley552 59 07:07 82 (17) 109 (14) 110 (10) 108 (8) 99 (10)
112 intentional rounding 80 07:07 76 (13) 88 (16) 103 (18) 111 (17) 113 (16)
113 mw7000 63 07:10 74 (11) 91 (12) 84 (13) 152 (15) 82 (12)
114 janesa 65 07:10 86 (18) 100 (13) 104 (12) 104 (11) 110 (11)
115 earlylight 61 07:11 73 (16) 100 (14) 98 (9) 121 (11) 117 (11)
116 endafk 118 07:11 82 (23) 95 (25) 111 (23) 110 (24) 99 (23)
117 Templar Redux 115 07:15 85 (23) 97 (24) 101 (24) 100 (22) 116 (22)
118 Doyler 64 07:16 75 (15) 87 (12) 101 (11) 112 (14) 127 (12)
119 Puzzleplease 116 07:16 83 (22) 102 (24) 101 (25) 105 (22) 106 (23)
120 f4rch 58 07:19 96 (11) 92 (15) 111 (11) 92 (12) 114 (9)
121 robinh 104 07:19 84 (21) 96 (19) 103 (24) 108 (21) 106 (19)
122 Desdeeloeste 76 07:21 82 (19) 104 (12) 106 (18) 107 (16) 104 (11)
123 Corymbia 71 07:23 86 (15) 89 (14) 98 (13) 116 (10) 111 (19)
124 1234 72 07:25 84 (17) 93 (13) 104 (16) 102 (12) 120 (14)
125 plett11 119 07:25 83 (26) 101 (23) 96 (23) 108 (23) 112 (24)
126 brian.richards1 63 07:29 80 (12) 94 (12) 101 (12) 108 (14) 110 (13)
127 phatman 86 07:32 80 (21) 86 (21) 108 (16) 124 (13) 116 (15)
128 Mike Harper 124 07:32 80 (24) 91 (25) 100 (26) 117 (25) 109 (24)
129 DianeRS 47 07:33 88 (12) 102 (12) 112 (7) 102 (8) 100 (8)
130 DamienKnapma 102 07:33 88 (24) 97 (22) 100 (19) 109 (19) 107 (18)
131 mich_punk 83 07:37 77 (18) 95 (19) 108 (17) 105 (12) 116 (17)
132 ilan 67 07:38 87 (13) 88 (14) 97 (15) 117 (15) 110 (10)
133 nigel 71 07:42 89 (18) 95 (14) 103 (14) 104 (15) 113 (10)
134 Solving slo mo 59 07:46 85 (10) 85 (15) 104 (12) 102 (12) 126 (10)
135 Married Admirer 68 07:46 76 (14) 91 (15) 104 (13) 112 (15) 120 (11)
136 ChrisBrea 93 07:47 80 (21) 101 (13) 101 (21) 113 (20) 104 (18)
137 Mudge 110 07:53 85 (21) 94 (22) 105 (21) 106 (23) 106 (23)
138 Srb1 53 08:02 77 (13) 113 (11) 97 (9) 111 (10) 106 (10)
139 crucihacker 95 08:05 83 (20) 90 (18) 97 (18) 112 (19) 115 (20)
140 johndun 110 08:07 80 (24) 95 (25) 98 (20) 110 (18) 118 (23)
141 mattindoha 86 08:08 88 (16) 100 (21) 106 (16) 100 (17) 103 (16)
142 ulaca 110 08:10 75 (22) 96 (24) 106 (20) 115 (23) 106 (21)
143 Cuppa378 55 08:11 79 (14) 95 (9) 120 (10) 105 (11) 105 (11)
144 RPY 51 08:13 77 (11) 103 (12) 99 (11) 112 (7) 111 (10)
145 feline 37 08:18 64 (6) 98 (8) 93 (8) 132 (7) 106 (8)
146 Joseph T 69 08:18 83 (15) 101 (16) 101 (11) 106 (13) 109 (14)
147 m5harp 81 08:19 86 (18) 103 (17) 104 (13) 97 (19) 112 (14)
148 Jeeves 118 08:21 85 (21) 95 (24) 98 (24) 108 (23) 109 (26)
149 John Arnold 89 08:22 89 (22) 91 (19) 110 (17) 110 (16) 102 (15)
150 vefatica 77 08:26 90 (19) 101 (16) 103 (17) 100 (15) 108 (10)
151 Manuel1 56 08:30 88 (12) 106 (14) 91 (12) 104 (8) 111 (10)
152 anchisiades 57 08:33 70 (11) 99 (12) 105 (10) 118 (15) 100 (9)
153 johnusa 35 08:34 79 (7) 105 (8) 114 (6) 94 (7) 107 (7)
154 Edprof 47 08:41 84 (6) 93 (8) 100 (10) 106 (15) 106 (8)
155 goblin 128 08:42 88 (26) 98 (26) 100 (26) 105 (24) 107 (26)
156 nigelmzzz 97 08:45 87 (17) 95 (21) 97 (21) 101 (14) 113 (24)
157 vinyl12345 91 08:50 79 (20) 94 (18) 103 (21) 121 (19) 103 (13)
158 Peloton 78 08:53 75 (14) 100 (15) 94 (14) 111 (19) 111 (16)
159 timbo 74 08:55 73 (15) 89 (19) 112 (12) 124 (12) 109 (16)
160 Deezzaa 111 08:58 80 (23) 97 (23) 99 (20) 107 (22) 114 (23)
161 Mkgnao 72 09:01 80 (22) 92 (10) 110 (15) 125 (11) 105 (14)
162 starstruck 72 09:02 79 (18) 97 (10) 98 (13) 112 (17) 114 (14)
163 gsriordan52 102 09:06 82 (20) 95 (21) 106 (21) 108 (19) 106 (21)
164 barracuda 81 09:08 83 (13) 95 (16) 98 (17) 111 (17) 106 (18)
165 Chimblet Lyle 55 09:09 78 (13) 88 (12) 115 (12) 121 (8) 106 (10)
166 crosswordian 110 09:22 81 (21) 94 (22) 101 (24) 115 (20) 107 (23)
167 horners1974 72 09:23 86 (15) 91 (14) 102 (14) 114 (16) 103 (13)
168 Stozzer John 94 09:24 76 (19) 93 (20) 110 (21) 113 (16) 107 (18)
169 Word Psmith 45 09:36 79 (13) 94 (7) 120 (10) 111 (9) 97 (6)
170 The Real Steve Snackman 103 09:49 77 (23) 99 (23) 105 (22) 109 (20) 114 (15)
171 Gnasherlicious 54 10:00 74 (15) 96 (8) 104 (9) 120 (10) 115 (12)
172 Muckypuppy 94 10:17 83 (22) 99 (24) 114 (14) 106 (19) 103 (15)
173 Troothful 40 10:27 69 (9) 77 (6) 159 (8) 101 (8) 91 (9)
174 Birdingbob 95 10:31 83 (20) 92 (21) 96 (17) 110 (19) 119 (18)
175 simjt 113 10:32 87 (25) 97 (22) 100 (24) 109 (20) 108 (22)
176 Struwa 46 10:42 87 (11) 89 (6) 99 (8) 119 (8) 103 (13)
177 Mark from Ipswich 89 10:50 86 (20) 98 (19) 108 (18) 107 (13) 102 (19)
178 chabuduo 117 10:53 76 (22) 91 (24) 99 (23) 116 (24) 113 (24)
179 eadgils 51 10:58 74 (14) 93 (7) 89 (13) 114 (9) 151 (8)
180 symbenall2 95 10:58 85 (22) 99 (19) 103 (19) 102 (16) 112 (19)
181 Gordon B 64 11:05 91 (14) 97 (15) 109 (13) 106 (13) 94 (9)
182 paul.verney 53 11:12 76 (11) 95 (11) 109 (9) 122 (10) 100 (12)
183 Sonofjim 76 11:30 74 (18) 96 (17) 104 (17) 108 (9) 123 (15)
184 danielbluebisson 70 11:32 78 (18) 94 (14) 108 (14) 111 (11) 116 (13)
185 TonyN6 73 11:32 86 (13) 93 (13) 105 (14) 105 (15) 105 (18)
186 maisiemae 93 11:33 81 (18) 80 (18) 100 (15) 105 (21) 127 (21)
187 Col-y-wobble 65 11:35 74 (16) 99 (13) 112 (11) 103 (12) 117 (13)
188 WordPlodder 124 11:39 76 (25) 96 (26) 108 (24) 103 (23) 115 (26)
189 Steve Wood 107 12:14 85 (21) 93 (22) 105 (22) 105 (21) 110 (21)
190 kapietro 81 12:19 75 (17) 93 (16) 99 (14) 111 (16) 119 (18)
191 hemantyd 73 12:22 218 (16) 63 (14) 59 (12) 69 (18) 73 (13)
192 HCOONamatata 48 12:30 72 (11) 103 (13) 118 (8) 107 (8) 106 (8)
193 cpn-xonmkhdty 47 12:31 78 (11) 87 (7) 99 (11) 123 (9) 113 (9)
194 tyrotim 51 12:40 91 (11) 92 (11) 103 (14) 108 (7) 107 (8)
195 sittinduk 60 12:42 74 (13) 86 (11) 100 (9) 110 (14) 125 (13)
196 rdb8 80 12:46 91 (17) 90 (17) 94 (18) 109 (14) 119 (14)
197 ifincham2 68 12:50 77 (14) 93 (14) 92 (14) 120 (12) 119 (14)
198 Jawar 45 12:52 79 (7) 73 (10) 121 (10) 122 (9) 100 (9)
199 Nuck_the_king 55 13:09 66 (10) 99 (6) 99 (11) 118 (14) 106 (14)
200 Mendes 86 13:48 73 (17) 97 (15) 107 (13) 111 (19) 107 (22)
201 BertieVII 99 14:00 101 (16) 79 (22) 103 (19) 117 (19) 100 (23)
202 kfb20 90 14:20 74 (22) 94 (15) 108 (16) 106 (19) 120 (18)
203 Xebeq 49 14:45 73 (13) 92 (9) 110 (9) 121 (7) 114 (11)
204 david.14587 75 14:55 64 (20) 99 (15) 125 (17) 91 (10) 128 (13)
205 Jax74 87 15:28 74 (21) 96 (16) 107 (18) 107 (18) 123 (14)
206 felipedavid 62 15:31 68 (15) 91 (12) 87 (8) 128 (13) 120 (14)
207 RPE10538 60 16:11 67 (14) 105 (12) 117 (10) 111 (13) 104 (11)
208 pfalloon 94 16:28 58 (21) 83 (22) 148 (17) 104 (17) 119 (17)
209 ian.shepherd 83 16:37 88 (16) 109 (19) 89 (16) 111 (17) 97 (15)
210 keithandginnybirrell 33 16:45 85 (7) 100 (7) 105 (7) 94 (6) 115 (6)
211 Flora Garden 98 18:25 86 (19) 104 (22) 100 (19) 105 (20) 102 (18)
212 bangsar 44 18:28 87 (11) 95 (7) 98 (8) 113 (9) 106 (9)
213 Geldart 79 18:29 72 (13) 84 (10) 103 (19) 121 (17) 104 (20)
214 philby 67 19:29 78 (17) 103 (15) 102 (13) 109 (11) 115 (11)
215 pat2 60 19:40 64 (12) 76 (12) 89 (15) 90 (10) 186 (11)
216 darrell.j.baker 35 20:23 85 (8) 94 (6) 108 (7) 123 (6) 93 (8)
217 timendo 76 21:15 77 (15) 99 (13) 98 (15) 108 (16) 114 (17)
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