Puzzles for Overthinkers


Minute Cryptic by Angas Tiernan and Liam Runnalls was published in September of 2025. It’s a puzzle book, and in my very professional opinion, the best puzzle book for puzzlers. 


While scrolling online, I kept coming across videos of zencryptic solving minute cryptic puzzles, and I was hooked. I love all puzzles: minesweeper, blockblast, wordle, logic puzzles, zen word, find the hidden object, etc. I had never heard of minute cryptic prior to these videos and I immediately wanted to learn how to solve them. 


Minute cryptic puzzles are made for overthinkers. It’s not like a normal puzzle; you really have to decipher each part of the clue, while still looking at the whole picture to be able to solve it. 


I will give 3 examples of my favorite beginner friendly puzzles with hints and explanations, hopefully, you’ll enjoy them too.


Reading my blog should only take about 5 minutes, so take time to figure out each puzzle


SCROLL SLOWLY!!!!


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Puzzle #1:


Puzzle: Cruel comments taken to heart by Great Aunt Sally (6)

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Ok basically, there are 3 parts to minute cryptics: the definition, fodder (wordplay), and indicator (what you do with the wordplay)

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Also, “(6)” means the answer has 6 letters

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Since this is the first clue, I’ll show you what all the parts are 

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Cruel comments taken to heart by Great Aunt Sally

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Definition

Indicator

Fodder

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Part of the fun of minute cryptic puzzles is figuring out what part of the clue is what. This will be easier to figure out with experience and exposure. Since this is your first clue, and I want it easy to visualize, I decided to label the parts. 

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Basically, you’re going to get a word from “Great Aunt Sally” by taking it to heart, and that word means cruel comments. 

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If you really think about it, and overthink it, “taking something to heart” is like taking something from the middle (do you get it?). So you’d be talking something from the middle of Great Aunt Sally, and get a word that means: cruel comments. 


SCROLL SLOWLY,

If you want a big hint, 

SCROLL SLOW!!!!!!


Hint in…

3


2


1




Great Aunt Sally





Answer in…

3


2


1


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The answer is: Taunts


Did you get it? The word taunts is hidden within Great Aunt Sally!

This is one of my favorites because it’s right there and once you see it, you’re like, “how did i miss that before?” Actually, it's like that for all MinuteCryptic puzzles...



Scroll SLOWLY for 


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Puzzle #2:


Puzzle: Overturning outcome of arena sports finals without risk (4)


Hint: In minute cryptics, the definition is ALWAYS either at the beginning or end of a clue





Scroll slowly for: Indicator, Definition, Fodder


Indicator (What to do):

“Overturning” and “finals”

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You are essentially flipping something ‘final’ around



Definition:

Since overturning is our indicator, the definition is ‘without risk’



Fodder (Wordplay):

This may give the answer away…

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‘Outcome of arena sports’


Scroll for answer:


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For this puzzle, you are turning (reversing), the final letters from ‘outcome of arena sports’



So the answer is ‘SAFE’


Explanation: 

outcome of arena sports


Hopefully you were able to solve that one:) 




Scroll for puzzle #3!




Puzzle #3:


Puzzle: Risks for beachgoers lying in hot sun… am I sunburnt?


This one is a little tricky, so you have to really think about it. 


Hints (definition, indicator-what to do, fodder-wordplay):


Scroll for definition


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Definition: Risks for beachgoers

Keep in mind: since risks is plural, the answer will also be plural


Scroll for indicator:


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Indicator: lying in

The answer is hiding in plain sight… where is it? (fodder will help, but may give away the answer)


Scroll for fodder (wordplay):


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Fodder: ‘hot sun…am I sunburnt?’


Scroll for answer:


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Answer: tsunamis


Hot sun…am I sunburnt?


This is similar to the first one, as the answer is within the clue:)


Now, if you’ve enjoyed these 3 hints, there’s an app called MinuteCryptic that’s available on Android and iPhone. It’s made by the author of the book, Minute Cryptic, and it gives you a daily puzzle that is slightly more challenging than my examples - so it’s more fun! This is not a sponsored post, but you should definitely check it out and maybe (hopefully), it could be a part of your new daily routine. 


Now, with no hints, try and solve this one: 


Bonus: Leaders of church ousted man biting groom with teeth? (4)



-Lauren K

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