David J. Bodycombe (born 1973 in Darlington, Co Durham) is a puzzle author and games consultant. He is based in London, and his work is read by over 2 million people a day in the UK, and is syndicated to over 300 newspapers internationally. The British public know him best as the author of popular puzzle columns in publications such as the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Metro and BBC Focus magazine.
He also consults on many television game shows, including The Crystal Maze, The Krypton Factor, The Mole and Treasure Hunt. He's currently the question writer for BBC Four's lateral thinking quiz Only Connect. On BBC Radio 4 he appeared on the quiz Puzzle Panel and devised the cryptic clues for X Marks the Spot. He has written and edited over forty books, including How to Devise a Game Show and The Riddles of the Sphinx – a history of modern puzzles.
In 2005 he became a leading author of sudoku puzzles, and he was the first person to have sudokus published in several major territories, including India and Scandinavia. As well as the classic 9x9 puzzle, he pioneered a number of alternative designs which have proved popular with readers all over the world. His games, puzzles and questions also appear in many magazines, and on websites, advertising campaigns, board games and interactive television.
He edits UKGameshows.com, a wiki-based web site cataloguing UK television and radio game shows.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)