Score | Grade |
---|---|
Less than 64 | Very easy |
64-93 | Easier |
94-108 | Moderate |
109-138 | Harder |
More than 138 | Very hard |
The SNITCH (Same-day Numeric Index of Times Cryptic Hardness) is a score of the difficulty for each Times Cryptic Crossword as shown in the table.
It is based on the time taken by reference solvers to complete the crossword with no errors. On this page the movement of the SNITCH (as reference solvers complete the puzzle) is shown for recent days. Scroll down to see the final NITCH value and a link to the underlying details for many past crosswords.
How hard is each Times Cryptic Crossword? A good way to judge this is to work out how long it takes a group of experienced solvers to complete the solution without errors. This site uses a group of over 100 solvers who regularly complete the crossword on the Club site. Each solver's time to complete the puzzle is compared to their average over the last six months. This is averaged again across all the solvers to provide an overall rating, the Numeric Index of Times Cryptic Hardness (NITCH). See the actual results for each six-month period at the Trends page.
A NITCH value of 100 means that the crossword is solved in the average time. A value of 150 means that the crossword takes (on average) one and a half times the normal time; a figure of 67 means that it is solved in two thirds of the normal time.
That's fine for a historical view (after everyone's completed the crossword), but it would be nice to see how today's crossword is going. So this site also calculates the SNITCH, Same-day NITCH, by updating the NITCH value regularly. Early results may be a bit misleading, so the movement of the SNITCH and the number of reference users who've completed the puzzle is graphed to give you some idea of how the value has varied during the day.
A sanity check of the NITCH code against the senitments in the Times for the Times blog has been done. Crosswords that have a high NITCH tend to be regarded as difficult in the blog, and those with a low NITCH are generally seen as easy. No measuring system will be perfect, but the NITCH seems to be a reasonable way to score the difficulty.
At the bottom of the main SNITCH page is a history of the ratings for the last year of crosswords. Above this history table is a link to the full archive of all crosswords rated since the SNITCH began in 2015.
If you would like to help cover the costs of running the SNITCH site, please "buy me a coffee".
Day: | Tuesday |
Date: | 2024-10-08 |
Number: | 29042 |
PDF link: | PDF 29042 |
SNITCH: | 72 |
Blog Link: | Times for the Times 29042 |
More details: | Detail and results |
Day: | Monday |
Date: | 2024-10-07 |
Number: | 29041 |
PDF link: | PDF 29041 |
SNITCH: | 80 |
Blog Link: | Times for the Times 29041 |
More details: | Detail and results |
Day: | Friday |
Date: | 2024-10-04 |
Number: | 29039 |
PDF link: | PDF 29039 |
SNITCH: | 132 |
Blog Link: | Times for the Times 29039 |
More details: | Detail and results |
Why does the number of Reference solvers often decrease during the day?
For the SNITCH calculation, only the Reference solvers in the top 100 of the leader board are used. The main reason for this is to make the SNITCH/NITCH calculation repeatable. Only the data for the top 100 solvers is available to all users. Members can see their own results (and the few surrounding) outside the top 100, but these are not available to everyone. So, if Reference solver results get pushed outside of the top 100, I remove them from the SNITCH calculation and show this reduction in the Reference solver count.
This table contains NITCH scores and links for the last year of crosswords. Please see the full archive link for the complete set.
Week beginning | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
76 | 2024-10-07 | 29041 | 80 | 29042 | 72 | ||||||
99 | 2024-09-30 | 29035 | 108 | 29036 | 97 | 29037 | 75 | 29038 | 87 | 29039 | 132 |
97 | 2024-09-23 | 29029 | 74 | 29030 | 70 | 29031 | 110 | 29032 | 141 | 29033 | 94 |
93 | 2024-09-16 | 29023 | 71 | 29024 | 102 | 29025 | 88 | 29026 | 110 | 29027 | 96 |
99 | 2024-09-09 | 29017 | 89 | 29018 | 102 | 29019 | 78 | 29020 | 82 | 29021 | 148 |
90 | 2024-09-02 | 29011 | 103 | 29012 | 71 | 29013 | 91 | 29014 | 82 | 29015 | 103 |
98 | 2024-08-26 | 29005 | 61 | 29006 | 98 | 29007 | 121 | 29008 | 103 | 29009 | 111 |
92 | 2024-08-19 | 28999 | 81 | 29000 | 85 | 29001 | 79 | 29002 | 113 | 29003 | 106 |
96 | 2024-08-12 | 28993 | 79 | 28994 | 116 | 28995 | 104 | 28996 | 77 | 28997 | 106 |
90 | 2024-08-05 | 28987 | 73 | 28988 | 93 | 28989 | 96 | 28990 | 94 | 28991 | 95 |
77 | 2024-07-29 | 28981 | 55 | 28982 | 75 | 28983 | 79 | 28984 | 76 | 28985 | 104 |
91 | 2024-07-22 | 28975 | 83 | 28976 | 70 | 28977 | 109 | 28978 | 86 | 28979 | 107 |
99 | 2024-07-15 | 28969 | 67 | 28970 | 105 | 28971 | 136 | 28972 | 93 | 28973 | 95 |
95 | 2024-07-08 | 28963 | 66 | 28964 | 83 | 28965 | 97 | 28966 | 114 | 28967 | 119 |
105 | 2024-07-01 | 28957 | 59 | 28958 | 85 | 28959 | 109 | 28960 | 129 | 28961 | 147 |
99 | 2024-06-24 | 28951 | 60 | 28952 | 98 | 28953 | 96 | 28954 | 98 | 28955 | 146 |
94 | 2024-06-17 | 28945 | 78 | 28946 | 106 | 28947 | 98 | 28948 | 99 | 28949 | 90 |
94 | 2024-06-10 | 28939 | 73 | 28940 | 77 | 28941 | 114 | 28942 | 99 | 28943 | 107 |
96 | 2024-06-03 | 28933 | 72 | 28934 | 100 | 28935 | 73 | 28936 | 106 | 28937 | 132 |
96 | 2024-05-27 | 28927 | 97 | 28928 | 82 | 28929 | 106 | 28930 | 82 | 28931 | 113 |
101 | 2024-05-20 | 28921 | 76 | 28922 | 80 | 28923 | 85 | 28924 | 117 | 28925 | 147 |
97 | 2024-05-13 | 28915 | 76 | 28916 | 55 | 28917 | 126 | 28918 | 119 | 28919 | 113 |
99 | 2024-05-06 | 28909 | 99 | 28910 | 65 | 28911 | 80 | 28912 | 110 | 28913 | 144 |
76 | 2024-04-29 | 28903 | 67 | 28904 | 79 | 28905 | 86 | 28906 | 60 | 28907 | 91 |
87 | 2024-04-22 | 28897 | 57 | 28898 | 94 | 28899 | 125 | 28900 | 85 | 28901 | 78 |
101 | 2024-04-15 | 28891 | 85 | 28892 | 80 | 28893 | 117 | 28894 | 107 | 28895 | 119 |
86 | 2024-04-08 | 28885 | 67 | 28886 | 70 | 28887 | 75 | 28888 | 113 | 28889 | 107 |
92 | 2024-04-01 | 28879 | 89 | 28880 | 92 | 28881 | 79 | 28882 | 70 | 28883 | 130 |
86 | 2024-03-25 | 28873 | 65 | 28874 | 83 | 28875 | 93 | 28876 | 114 | 28877 | 79 |
101 | 2024-03-18 | 28867 | 61 | 28868 | 96 | 28869 | 127 | 28870 | 92 | 28871 | 133 |
98 | 2024-03-11 | 28861 | 89 | 28862 | 96 | 28863 | 98 | 28864 | 98 | 28865 | 109 |
91 | 2024-03-04 | 28855 | 73 | 28856 | 63 | 28857 | 95 | 28858 | 102 | 28859 | 124 |
99 | 2024-02-26 | 28849 | 77 | 28850 | 95 | 28851 | 112 | 28852 | 117 | 28853 | 97 |
78 | 2024-02-19 | 28843 | 63 | 28844 | 57 | 28845 | 85 | 28846 | 88 | 28847 | 101 |
92 | 2024-02-12 | 28837 | 89 | 28838 | 59 | 28839 | 98 | 28840 | 112 | 28841 | 106 |
76 | 2024-02-05 | 28831 | 68 | 28832 | 74 | 28833 | 89 | 28834 | 72 | 28835 | 78 |
87 | 2024-01-29 | 28825 | 64 | 28826 | 78 | 28827 | 85 | 28828 | 128 | 28829 | 83 |
101 | 2024-01-22 | 28819 | 65 | 28820 | 104 | 28821 | 108 | 28822 | 138 | 28823 | 94 |
100 | 2024-01-15 | 28813 | 59 | 28814 | 95 | 28815 | 90 | 28816 | 115 | 28817 | 142 |
83 | 2024-01-08 | 28807 | 70 | 28808 | 69 | 28809 | 68 | 28810 | 99 | 28811 | 111 |
72 | 2024-01-01 | 28801 | 72 | 28802 | 64 | 28803 | 71 | 28804 | 76 | 28805 | 77 |
93 | 2023-12-25 | 28795 | 66 | 28796 | 86 | 28797 | 133 | 28798 | 78 | 28799 | 106 |
99 | 2023-12-18 | 28789 | 96 | 28790 | 59 | 28791 | 116 | 28792 | 105 | 28793 | 120 |
101 | 2023-12-11 | 28783 | 78 | 28784 | 117 | 28785 | 99 | 28786 | 121 | 28787 | 90 |
107 | 2023-12-04 | 28777 | 73 | 28778 | 93 | 28779 | 142 | 28780 | 99 | 28781 | 128 |
106 | 2023-11-27 | 28771 | 68 | 28772 | 108 | 28773 | 100 | 28774 | 150 | 28775 | 104 |
101 | 2023-11-20 | 28765 | 97 | 28766 | 109 | 28767 | 94 | 28768 | 89 | 28769 | 117 |
90 | 2023-11-13 | 28759 | 82 | 28760 | 66 | 28761 | 64 | 28762 | 104 | 28763 | 137 |
94 | 2023-11-06 | 28753 | 89 | 28754 | 83 | 28755 | 89 | 28756 | 84 | 28757 | 126 |
88 | 2023-10-30 | 28747 | 73 | 28748 | 83 | 28749 | 92 | 28750 | 86 | 28751 | 109 |
94 | 2023-10-23 | 28741 | 96 | 28742 | 113 | 28743 | 71 | 28744 | 95 | 28745 | 99 |
90 | 2023-10-16 | 28735 | 63 | 28736 | 88 | 28737 | 85 | 28738 | 125 | 28739 | 93 |
92 | 2023-10-09 | 28729 | 71 | 28730 | 74 | 28731 | 106 | 28732 | 112 | 28733 | 98 |
98 | 2023-10-02 | 28723 | 88 | 28724 | 64 | 28725 | 85 | 28726 | 98 | 28727 | 156 |
60 | 2023-09-25 | 28717 | 60 |