maura b. jacobson, a national treasure.

i love maura b. jacobson, and the nearly perfect crosswords she's created for new york magazine for 31 years. she is the primary reason i maintain a subscription, and i have been PISSED over the last year that every other week i have to deal with cathy allis's amatuer bullshit.

i'm sad to see her go, but you just have to read this feature on her. she is aDORbz!

Even the most consistent things must eventually come to an end, and 31 years and a bit over 1,400 puzzles later, Maura is retiring, despite our protestations. (One editor here actually burst into tears when she heard the news.) Over the course of her career, Maura has also contributed lots of puzzles to the New York Times—her longtime friend Will Shortz, the Times’ puzzle editor, calls her “a national treasure”—and to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the annual convention of across-and-downers. Maura’s the only one who’s kicked in a puzzle every single year since the tournament began, and when her name is announced, she gets thunderous applause. That’s because the crowd knows her trademarks well: grids that are unusually dense with theme clues, shot through with a distinctive and sometimes antic whimsy. (via)

i nearly burst into tears when i read this, too (i actually bit my finger when i read the title: "thirty-one down"). did you know she is a three-time jeopardy winner?!!? RIP maura! i'll miss you so much!