Chris Maslanka

Chris Maslanka
Chris Maslanka at London-based treasure hunt in aid of the Tibet Relief Fund in 2004
Born	27 October 1954 (1954-10-27) (age 62) London
Occupation	British puzzle designer

Christopher M. Maslanka (born 27 October 1954) is a British writer and broadcaster, specialising in puzzles and problem solving.

He was born in Clapham, London, but was brought up by his uncle and aunt in Lowdham, Nottingham. He was educated at The Becket School, Nottingham and went on to study physics at St Catherine's College, Oxford.

His first book - The Pyrgic Puzzler - a collection of 80 puzzles with illustrations by Michael Harrington, was written without any particular view to publication, but was taken up by Iris Murdoch who wrote an introduction for it in which she said that although she's not a great solver of puzzles, the book may be 'read as literature' just as in the case of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Bible.

He was invited by Alan Rusbridger to submit puzzles to Weekend Guardian and his two puzzle columns: Wordplay and Pyrgic Puzzles have appeared in the Saturday edition of the newspaper for 20 years. Maslanka is also the quizmaster for New Humanist magazine.

A book interview with David Freeman at BBC Radio Oxford led to Maslanka's contributing anecdotes and puzzles to many programmes and he was eventually given his own programme PDQ which gave Maslanka a freer rein for his peculiar blend of comedy and conundrums. He was also invited by the World Service to broadcast his humorous puzzle anecdotes to the hostages during the Gulf War.

Maslanka designed the puzzles for Harry Horse's 1996 computer game, Drowned God.