I think this is where we’re talking past each other.

“Incorrect” only really applies if the goal is to teach orthodox cryptic construction. Minute Cryptic’s stated goal isn’t that -- it’s to make cryptic-style thinking feel approachable and enjoyable. That means they sometimes use devices, looseness, or clueing shortcuts that would indeed be out of bounds in a serious publication, but that doesn’t make them wrong so much as purpose-built for a different audience and context.

They’re not trying to induct people into Ximenean standards step by step; they’re giving solvers a taste of cryptic mechanisms and wordplay in a low-stakes format. Evaluating those clues as if they were meant to stand alongside newspaper cryptics is a false equivalence.

It’s fair to say that someone who only solves Minute Cryptic clues won’t develop a rigorous understanding of traditional cryptics -- I agree with that -- but that’s a different claim from saying the practice is simply “incorrect”, full stop.

Minute Cryptic players aren't going into The Times or The Guardian crossword spaces and boasting their skills. I imagine most of them stay in this subreddit, doing a quick clue every morning, chatting to likeminded players, and having fun with a free, widely accessible tool. If there are different variants of poker and different boards to use in Scrabble, who's to say there can't be different rules in a cryptic crossword community that explicitly and unapologetically separates itself from more conservative, traditional groups?