beta-testing a new puzzle

many are the puzzles that i attempt to solve, far fewer are the ones that i actually do solve—but a still smaller category are the puzzles that i write myself. i developed the following puzzle last night while suffering from insomnia and staring at a digital clock.

the setup: each numeral on a clock is composed of digital sections (eg. 8 has seven sections; 9 has six). using the 12-hour clock…

easy: determine the difference (in minutes) between the time with the fewest total sections and the time with most total sections.

hard: determine the time with the single greatest net change in sections from the minute before it (e.g. the net change between 3:34 and 3:33 is 1 section).

comments are now enabled (for 1 day only) in anticipation of the avalanche of answers, feedback, and derivatives that you might have.

UPDATE: the correct answers to both the easy and hard questions appear in the comments, so if you want to submit your solution without reading anyone else’s you can always email me via email.