With the puzzle world still reeling over the death of Thomas Gazzola, many of us heard the news on Thursday that we lost another friend.
Leslie Billig was a regular attendee of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and a longtime puzzle editor for Penny Press and GAMES, among other outlets. While I personally did not socialize with her often, she had a great influence on many excellent puzzlemakers working today, and I see many of them fondly recalling interacting with her in both a professional and social setting. ACPT attendees can still recall Leslie's "Crossword Idol"-winning performance a decade ago of "My Will," a Jerome Kern parody about Will Shortz. She was a beloved mainstay of our community and she's gone far too soon.
I really would like to stop writing this sort of entry now.