The Boston Marathon

“Boston Marathon” Puzzle by Fred Piscop, edited by Will Shortz

The 114th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 19, 2010 which is Patriots' Day.

If you subscribe to The New York Times on-line Premium Crosswords, you are probably familiar with the monthly bonus puzzle. For April, the title of this timely crossword is “Boston Marathon” and features "Boston" in over thirty clues.

Across: 1. Boston POST Road (early mail route); 5. Sch. With a Boston campus, UMASS; 10. Boston Red Sox pitching star BABE Ruth; 18. High-speed Boston-to Washington D.C. train, ACELA; 20. 1980 Boston Marathon “winner” ROSIE Ruiz; 22. Boston TERRIER (breed of dog); 27. Boston subway system in a Kingston Trio song, MTA; 31. Boston airport, LOGAN; 39. Sitcom set in a Boston bar, CHEERS; 41. The AMES Building (Boston’s first skyscraper); 46. Actor James of “Boston Legal”, SPADER; 53. North END (location of Boston’s Little Italy); 58. Boston’s river, CHARLES; 62. Boston, Charleston or Madison, DANCE; 72. Boston National Leaguer of old, BRAVE; 74. Boston-born college benefactor Elihu YALE; 76. 2004 Boston conventioneers, for short, DEMS.

Down: 1. Boston Fish PIER (spot on the Boston Harborwalk); 4. Freedom TRAIL (path that leads to Boston historic sites); 13. Boston’s Liberty Tree was one, ELM; 30. Boston CREAM pie; 32. Suburb 21 miles WNW of Boston, ACTON; 35. “The Bostonians” star Christopher REEVE; 36. The GREEN Monster (left-field wall at Boston’s Fenway Park); 55. Boston newspaper, GLOBE; 57. Boston BAKED beans; 58. Robin Cook thriller set in Boston’s Memorial Hospital, COMA; 59. HAIL Mary pass (miracle play by Boston College’s Doug Flutie); 66. Back BAY (upscale Boston neighborhood); 68. Boston’s Commonwealth, e.g., Abbr., AVE; and for good measure, 69. Ted Kennedy, once, Abbr., SEN.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual marathon and part of the World Marathon Majors. A maximum field size of 25,000 participants begin in the rural town of Hopkinton and run the legendary course through eight cities and towns before finishing in Boston’s Back Bay, a distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 Kilometers). Here’s the full course…

Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

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