David J. Bodycombe

David J. Bodycombe (born 1973 in Darlington, County Durham) is an English 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 was the question editor for the first 8 series of 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.

Television series

• The Crystal Maze (1991-5) - games devisor
• Sub Zero (1999) - games devisor
• The Mole (2001) - games devisor, UK series 2
• Treasure Hunt (2002-3) - clue writer
• Mind Games (2003-4) - puzzle writer
• Starfinder (2003-4) - games devisor
• Inside Clyde (2004) - games devisor
• Tout le Monde Veut Prendre sa Place (France, 2006) - format consultant
• Codex (2006-7) - games designer
• Only Connect (2008–14) - question writer/editor
• The Krypton Factor (2009) - games designer
• Panic Attack (2009) - question writer

Radio series

• Puzzle Panel (1998-2005) - panellist/contributor
• X Marks the Spot (1998-2006) - clue writer

Books

• The Mammoth Book of Brainstorming Puzzles (1996)
• The Mammoth Puzzle Carnival (1997)
• Lateral Puzzles (1998, reprinted in the US as Mind Benders: Adventures in Lateral Thinking)
• Optical Illusions and Picture Puzzles (1998)
• Codes and Ciphers (1999)
• Reader's Digest Compendium of Puzzles and Brain Teasers (2000, consulting contributor)
• How To Devise A Game Show (2003)
• Number Crunchers (2004)
• Visual Vexations (2004)
• SU DOKU for alle (Denmark, 2005)
• SU DOKU for alle 2 (Denmark, 2005)
• SU DOKU Classic (Denmark, 2005)
• SU DOKU Classic, English version (Denmark, 2005)
• SU DOKU Classic 2 (Denmark, 2005)
• Master SU DOKU (Denmark, 2005)
• Sudoku Classic 2006 Calendar (2005)
• Penguin 2006 Sudoku (2005)
• Penguin Holiday Sudoku (2006)
• Master SU DOKU 2 (Denmark, 2006)
• SU DOKU Classic 3 (Denmark, 2006)
• SU DOKU Classic 4 (Denmark, 2006)
• SU DOKU for alle 3 (Denmark, 2006)
• Penguin 2007 Sudoku (2006)
• Hyper Su Doku (Denmark, 2006)
• Sudoku Classic 2007 Calendar (2006)
• The Riddles of the Sphinx (2007)
• SU DOKU Classic 5 (Denmark, 2007)
• SU DOKU for alle 4 (Denmark, 2007)
• SU DOKU Classic 6 (Denmark, 2007)
• Master SU DOKU 3 (Denmark, 2007)
• SU DOKU Classic 7 (Denmark, 2007)
• SU DOKU for alle 5 (Denmark, 2007)
• Penguin 2008 Sudoku (2007)
• SU DOKU Classic 8 (Denmark, 2007)
• Sudoku Classic 2008 Calendar (2007)
• Penguin Pocket Sudoku (2008)
• Penguin 2009 Sudoku (2008)
• Penguin Pocket Sudoku 2 (2008)
• Penguin 2010 Sudoku (2009)
• Penguin Pocket Sudoku 3 (2009)
• Penguin Sudoku Challenge Vol. 1 (2010)

UKGameshows.com

Bodycombe co-founded and still runs the website UKGameshows.com.