Crossword SNITCH

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

Reference solvers for May 2023

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 52 04:17 86 (14) 90 (10) 102 (8) 110 (13) 117 (7)
2 Nathan Panning 81 05:29 82 (21) 93 (19) 98 (13) 110 (12) 124 (16)
3 Jason 68 06:23 74 (15) 89 (15) 105 (18) 117 (14) 130 (6)
4 Magoo 77 06:42 71 (13) 76 (15) 84 (17) 124 (16) 137 (16)
5 verlaine 113 06:50 87 (23) 87 (23) 100 (19) 111 (25) 112 (23)
6 Diskus 115 06:55 85 (24) 87 (21) 88 (25) 118 (23) 120 (22)
7 mistigris 84 07:15 82 (18) 92 (16) 95 (15) 111 (19) 117 (16)
8 hilarym 64 07:27 89 (16) 91 (15) 107 (13) 100 (11) 119 (9)
9 aphis99 120 07:31 88 (25) 87 (26) 94 (24) 109 (22) 123 (23)
10 cmjhutton 92 07:35 91 (21) 84 (20) 101 (18) 96 (17) 132 (16)
11 richard 93 08:55 87 (20) 95 (22) 108 (21) 104 (20) 110 (10)
12 asaldanha 104 08:55 79 (20) 84 (23) 106 (21) 110 (22) 121 (18)
13 chindit 104 09:56 88 (21) 81 (18) 102 (18) 103 (22) 118 (25)
14 philjordan1147 90 10:20 79 (18) 87 (21) 104 (18) 109 (16) 123 (17)
15 Kinghedger 88 10:25 85 (19) 82 (17) 105 (22) 107 (16) 123 (14)
16 lickert 86 10:26 82 (17) 84 (18) 107 (18) 109 (19) 118 (14)
17 scrabbler 95 10:34 81 (20) 89 (22) 106 (19) 109 (17) 118 (17)
18 AlanS 99 10:38 80 (19) 90 (24) 102 (22) 102 (20) 137 (14)
19 xyster 83 10:40 94 (18) 87 (20) 99 (20) 118 (15) 107 (10)
20 glheard 73 10:51 87 (21) 85 (17) 100 (8) 121 (21) 108 (6)
21 chriswords 63 11:00 83 (13) 89 (11) 110 (14) 103 (13) 110 (12)
22 jimpen 70 11:05 85 (15) 89 (14) 110 (12) 105 (15) 111 (14)
23 keriothe_ 114 11:12 72 (23) 99 (23) 92 (23) 115 (24) 121 (21)
24 Topical Tim 120 11:23 86 (25) 93 (24) 86 (25) 111 (24) 125 (22)
25 miked1961 89 11:27 83 (19) 93 (19) 100 (16) 113 (18) 110 (17)
26 andy 95 11:34 84 (23) 90 (20) 99 (21) 111 (16) 126 (15)
27 Heyesey 75 11:36 77 (14) 84 (14) 103 (18) 105 (14) 125 (15)
28 markdobell 108 11:40 82 (20) 89 (24) 95 (22) 117 (22) 116 (20)
29 Deane Short 74 11:48 85 (16) 81 (14) 105 (15) 110 (15) 117 (14)
30 neilr 102 12:03 89 (20) 88 (23) 99 (19) 108 (22) 116 (18)
31 fshephe 107 12:04 90 (24) 91 (20) 101 (22) 106 (18) 109 (23)
32 Sheapey 114 12:09 78 (21) 76 (22) 96 (22) 108 (25) 134 (24)
33 David Crooks 82 12:11 86 (20) 90 (21) 110 (17) 110 (11) 114 (13)
34 tilbee 104 12:31 82 (20) 90 (23) 91 (21) 115 (21) 122 (19)
35 Tom Stubbs 123 12:32 78 (25) 90 (23) 96 (25) 113 (25) 119 (25)
36 aphasic 73 12:37 89 (17) 85 (15) 99 (13) 96 (16) 137 (12)
37 JimboFS 104 12:44 81 (20) 89 (22) 100 (22) 106 (18) 121 (22)
38 Silva 117 12:45 84 (24) 96 (24) 99 (26) 109 (23) 111 (20)
39 Jim Conner 38 13:03 104 (7) 90 (7) 105 (9) 100 (8) 97 (7)
40 March 102 13:22 81 (19) 83 (22) 101 (21) 106 (20) 127 (20)
41 Stavros 91 13:26 83 (20) 84 (22) 98 (17) 108 (19) 139 (13)
42 MikeOsborne 105 13:33 87 (22) 83 (25) 94 (19) 112 (19) 127 (20)
43 jonathan.leather 40 13:48 108 (13) 85 (6) 102 (7) 83 (8) 115 (6)
44 Secondbass 59 13:48 82 (10) 95 (13) 104 (17) 96 (11) 124 (8)
45 7dPenguin 80 13:51 90 (21) 86 (18) 103 (15) 106 (12) 122 (14)
46 Finzi 126 13:57 85 (25) 88 (26) 102 (25) 109 (25) 115 (25)
47 LouWeed 114 13:58 90 (24) 90 (25) 100 (25) 106 (23) 120 (17)
48 Penfold_61 90 14:13 91 (20) 83 (18) 106 (20) 108 (12) 111 (20)
49 Ben Staveley 96 14:20 88 (20) 84 (21) 107 (18) 114 (21) 106 (16)
50 SimonAnthony 108 14:22 65 (24) 81 (23) 81 (22) 94 (20) 193 (19)
51 Peponi13 79 14:23 88 (16) 94 (20) 104 (16) 103 (16) 115 (11)
52 JezWoolfrey 63 14:31 81 (15) 98 (13) 105 (14) 99 (12) 125 (9)
53 Ed freshpot 96 14:34 74 (18) 90 (22) 95 (17) 118 (23) 118 (16)
54 Tibthorpe 106 14:45 80 (22) 89 (21) 95 (19) 106 (20) 125 (24)
55 Groucho 102 14:52 78 (24) 92 (22) 102 (22) 110 (19) 127 (15)
56 CentralLine 91 15:03 81 (19) 76 (20) 90 (16) 116 (16) 135 (20)
57 franceslc11 70 15:06 84 (13) 82 (8) 90 (12) 111 (16) 113 (21)
58 phthisis 97 15:10 86 (21) 91 (21) 98 (18) 101 (16) 121 (21)
59 alexh 84 15:17 89 (17) 95 (21) 99 (17) 108 (14) 110 (15)
60 Semillon 124 15:18 81 (25) 89 (26) 98 (25) 114 (23) 117 (25)
61 gabrojak 81 15:23 85 (18) 88 (16) 106 (21) 109 (15) 114 (11)
62 pitcaithlie 65 15:27 83 (17) 86 (15) 112 (13) 106 (11) 127 (9)
63 john.marshall 63 15:30 98 (13) 88 (15) 97 (13) 103 (13) 121 (9)
64 Achernar 74 15:30 89 (17) 96 (19) 104 (14) 110 (17) 101 (7)
65 Ease This Jam 100 15:30 83 (21) 86 (20) 92 (22) 114 (20) 127 (17)
66 MK76 60 15:49 87 (14) 94 (16) 109 (10) 97 (11) 122 (9)
67 Squallaby 90 16:01 92 (22) 83 (21) 103 (15) 107 (16) 122 (16)
68 Jim Willis 47 16:03 90 (9) 69 (9) 91 (10) 112 (9) 133 (10)
69 tapbarker 104 16:04 80 (20) 83 (20) 104 (20) 109 (20) 118 (24)
70 BlackburnRover 103 16:07 93 (21) 93 (24) 96 (20) 109 (21) 110 (17)
71 Pootle 105 16:08 88 (21) 81 (19) 100 (23) 110 (21) 118 (21)
72 robinh 104 16:09 92 (21) 88 (25) 107 (21) 99 (18) 115 (19)
73 Looch 117 16:10 84 (24) 90 (24) 102 (22) 103 (23) 118 (24)
74 Crucifer 75 16:13 81 (17) 75 (15) 82 (15) 120 (13) 145 (15)
75 andrewlake 115 16:19 81 (21) 86 (23) 94 (25) 108 (22) 127 (24)
76 Eddddddd 41 16:45 90 (10) 93 (8) 92 (10) 105 (7) 130 (6)
77 Valance 62 16:46 76 (12) 83 (12) 90 (11) 105 (14) 139 (13)
78 Craven 108 17:09 90 (24) 90 (22) 99 (20) 107 (22) 115 (20)
79 ajcauk1 80 17:21 90 (19) 92 (18) 106 (14) 104 (16) 112 (13)
80 LJCN 106 17:36 83 (21) 94 (23) 97 (23) 118 (18) 110 (21)
81 Ludo 52 17:47 69 (10) 101 (13) 98 (9) 111 (10) 119 (10)
82 DunPangolin 105 17:48 91 (25) 91 (24) 98 (20) 107 (18) 117 (18)
83 Colin2355 89 17:51 89 (19) 80 (17) 102 (20) 114 (18) 116 (15)
84 GMcD 107 17:55 86 (24) 82 (19) 92 (23) 121 (20) 119 (21)
85 Crossiant 77 18:12 72 (13) 90 (15) 88 (15) 108 (15) 129 (19)
86 uvofiz 81 18:33 86 (16) 92 (20) 99 (16) 100 (16) 129 (13)
87 Wyn Lewis 50 18:34 86 (9) 92 (11) 92 (10) 118 (10) 109 (10)
88 benedick 79 18:41 89 (16) 89 (19) 100 (17) 104 (15) 124 (12)
89 OliviaRhineb 69 18:42 82 (13) 92 (13) 104 (16) 102 (13) 116 (14)
90 pterodactyl 75 18:46 90 (20) 97 (15) 104 (20) 98 (10) 112 (10)
91 Zander 103 18:52 85 (21) 80 (21) 99 (22) 105 (18) 129 (21)
92 DanSolo 42 19:30 94 (8) 103 (10) 91 (11) 94 (7) 122 (6)
93 Andrew Whiffin 59 19:34 72 (11) 93 (11) 108 (14) 102 (9) 116 (14)
94 hugh schofield 52 19:51 86 (16) 87 (13) 93 (9) 114 (7) 147 (7)
95 Kevin Gregg 89 19:52 80 (17) 90 (20) 106 (19) 104 (18) 122 (15)
96 PGooden 66 19:53 79 (9) 77 (13) 91 (13) 99 (14) 134 (17)
97 endafk 106 19:55 82 (24) 86 (19) 97 (23) 116 (19) 120 (21)
98 Hamish.S 88 20:01 79 (18) 91 (19) 97 (16) 114 (14) 118 (21)
99 Jeremy S 75 20:03 89 (20) 94 (17) 106 (18) 110 (13) 106 (7)
100 John Arnold 56 20:05 83 (13) 90 (13) 116 (13) 105 (10) 110 (7)
101 cyrillic 65 20:47 70 (8) 72 (11) 93 (15) 120 (16) 120 (15)
102 Cookincats 45 20:52 94 (9) 89 (13) 105 (10) 106 (7) 116 (6)
103 npweston 56 20:53 86 (13) 80 (13) 101 (11) 115 (8) 126 (11)
104 pc8 117 20:59 85 (24) 77 (23) 99 (23) 120 (25) 117 (22)
105 James P 102 21:08 76 (19) 87 (22) 93 (23) 114 (16) 129 (22)
106 Jagsfan1971 64 21:25 78 (12) 94 (18) 100 (18) 107 (8) 135 (8)
107 george.garlick 63 21:50 87 (15) 86 (9) 100 (13) 111 (13) 113 (13)
108 Waterloo 82 21:51 82 (20) 89 (17) 102 (14) 105 (14) 124 (17)
109 barracuda 105 21:54 84 (17) 85 (24) 104 (23) 106 (19) 117 (22)
110 crosswordian 99 22:00 85 (19) 86 (20) 100 (20) 108 (16) 116 (24)
111 Nangle 67 22:14 93 (16) 87 (17) 91 (13) 116 (11) 125 (10)
112 David Bourne 58 22:20 81 (12) 82 (11) 96 (9) 124 (9) 112 (17)
113 dec 46 22:38 84 (9) 78 (7) 106 (12) 115 (9) 107 (9)
114 Onelug 42 22:40 80 (9) 102 (9) 95 (7) 99 (10) 127 (7)
115 Paul Hammond 38 22:59 75 (7) 91 (9) 94 (9) 106 (6) 136 (7)
116 UisceTe 50 23:09 93 (11) 89 (9) 98 (12) 105 (9) 113 (9)
117 DianeRS 51 23:10 92 (9) 84 (9) 88 (10) 86 (11) 139 (12)
118 goblin 128 23:16 85 (26) 87 (26) 101 (25) 105 (26) 120 (25)
119 squark 41 23:29 81 (7) 84 (8) 94 (11) 111 (6) 126 (9)
120 Tudds 113 23:33 81 (23) 86 (26) 102 (23) 113 (23) 122 (18)
121 Corymbia 91 23:54 84 (21) 90 (12) 92 (17) 98 (18) 125 (23)
122 MichelinPoitiers 61 24:00 98 (13) 92 (13) 94 (10) 99 (13) 114 (12)
123 1234 64 24:12 82 (14) 92 (17) 100 (14) 107 (10) 133 (9)
124 Galspray 85 24:31 58 (17) 64 (19) 66 (19) 87 (13) 228 (17)
125 Edprof 64 24:32 82 (13) 95 (12) 98 (12) 98 (14) 125 (13)
126 medodd 61 24:48 88 (14) 88 (13) 110 (18) 106 (9) 108 (7)
127 Pauline Minter 53 25:01 78 (10) 87 (9) 96 (12) 107 (10) 124 (12)
128 rjcassidy 114 25:13 87 (24) 80 (22) 104 (22) 110 (23) 116 (23)
129 Mkgnao 80 25:18 83 (22) 95 (18) 105 (15) 109 (12) 118 (13)
130 Fidelio 74 25:21 84 (18) 91 (13) 94 (14) 107 (14) 124 (15)
131 SlumdogEngineer 45 25:45 78 (15) 77 (7) 93 (8) 94 (6) 162 (9)
132 Crippens1 74 26:09 87 (20) 98 (16) 109 (15) 106 (11) 106 (12)
133 JohnDun 94 26:26 82 (21) 88 (20) 96 (21) 117 (14) 123 (18)
134 chris661554 111 26:37 81 (24) 92 (24) 90 (21) 105 (21) 132 (21)
135 ulaca 85 26:41 78 (21) 84 (15) 96 (18) 113 (13) 131 (18)
136 nekabue 100 27:10 82 (21) 88 (21) 94 (19) 132 (19) 105 (20)
137 JoeyC 73 27:35 82 (17) 95 (16) 97 (15) 107 (13) 125 (12)
138 timbo 51 27:37 82 (10) 101 (7) 90 (9) 99 (13) 121 (12)
139 eniamretrauq 75 28:03 81 (14) 91 (15) 97 (15) 102 (18) 128 (13)
140 bobbb 50 28:18 87 (9) 73 (11) 101 (11) 132 (10) 108 (9)
141 Gussie 49 28:37 76 (8) 70 (8) 95 (12) 112 (6) 127 (15)
142 Deezzaa 73 28:41 85 (16) 86 (11) 97 (16) 117 (15) 110 (15)
143 Mike Harper 94 28:48 77 (17) 81 (22) 98 (21) 117 (18) 130 (16)
144 99evers 39 29:09 68 (6) 72 (7) 107 (9) 138 (9) 96 (8)
145 Manveru 59 29:18 84 (15) 69 (11) 123 (13) 104 (11) 123 (9)
146 Yatton50 74 29:20 74 (12) 88 (20) 106 (15) 106 (13) 125 (14)
147 gbestanley 97 30:17 89 (20) 90 (19) 103 (20) 104 (17) 111 (21)
148 rosselliot 54 30:28 89 (7) 93 (12) 94 (8) 103 (16) 113 (11)
149 BertieVII 81 31:59 85 (20) 92 (15) 95 (14) 95 (14) 129 (18)
150 koro 93 32:05 78 (19) 77 (17) 105 (18) 115 (18) 119 (21)
151 maryht 78 34:44 88 (15) 97 (16) 95 (13) 108 (14) 107 (20)
152 McBeak 56 35:02 78 (16) 89 (9) 74 (11) 121 (11) 152 (9)
153 dosbarth 50 35:19 89 (14) 99 (10) 94 (8) 84 (8) 131 (10)
154 marp 57 35:19 87 (12) 75 (8) 98 (12) 102 (14) 130 (11)
155 Pleasuredome 84 35:31 89 (18) 85 (18) 98 (19) 102 (16) 133 (13)
156 WordPlodder 114 36:16 73 (21) 86 (23) 102 (22) 113 (23) 120 (25)
157 starstruck 107 36:31 78 (22) 92 (23) 95 (21) 113 (21) 124 (20)
158 Rookie 65 36:32 74 (15) 104 (14) 109 (13) 101 (11) 114 (12)
159 kapietro 73 36:34 79 (16) 104 (15) 100 (14) 110 (16) 107 (12)
160 tyrotim 61 38:26 82 (14) 86 (12) 103 (13) 112 (11) 120 (11)
161 Cryptique 83 39:26 72 (17) 85 (23) 105 (15) 114 (13) 134 (15)
162 Shushannah 73 40:17 86 (10) 84 (14) 92 (14) 105 (15) 118 (20)
163 empty 89 41:51 88 (22) 85 (19) 103 (13) 106 (18) 121 (17)
164 algyw 83 43:38 93 (14) 83 (21) 97 (14) 107 (18) 122 (16)
165 MartinP 103 43:53 86 (25) 78 (20) 103 (18) 105 (18) 127 (22)
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