Comment by _alternator_

I think "close to completion" is not the right framing. Creating good open problems was an achievement because these problems often sit at the edge of known techniques, and solutions require inventing "new math". It's hard to find these problems, and they take decades to mature as they withstand scrutiny by many people.

In another comment below, I likened this to clear-cutting a forest. Growing the forest takes a lifetime; destroying it could happen in the next few months.