Puzzle Solvers We Love to Watch
There's something about watching someone else solve a puzzle. Not for the answer, but for the getting there: the wrong turns, the dead ends, and the moment it suddenly clicks.
Because we're in New Zealand, we get each day's puzzles before most of the world does. So by the time these videos come out, we've usually already had a go ourselves, and it's fun to see how they worked it out. I love seeing them try different ideas before arriving at the a‑ha moment.
Daily puzzle solvers
Rangsk
Chill daily puzzles, exactly as promised. Wordle, Connections, Sudoku, Minute Cryptic and a stack of smaller indie games, solved at an easy pace while he talks through each idea. Even when a puzzle fights back, he stays calm, which makes him perfect company with a morning coffee.
Katie G, The Crossword Girl
A professional singer who got a good chunk of TikTok hooked on crosswords. Her line is that nobody can do them at first, you just learn the rules, and watching her crack the daily Minute Cryptic clue makes you believe it.
Making maths friendly
Tom Rocks Maths
Dr Tom Crawford teaches maths at Oxford and Cambridge, and stood in as Countdown's numbers expert in 2025. His videos make maths feel like something you'd do for fun.
Greg Tang
Maths educator Greg Tang's quick, playful tricks make numbers feel friendly. A few of them made it into our Mental Maths Tips.
Where it all started
Countdown
The show that started it all for us. Racing the contestants to the target in the numbers round never gets old.
And for the youngest solver we know, meet Acer.
Got a favourite puzzle solver we should be watching? Let us know in the comments below.
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