Bike Week

Bike Week, Puzzle by Fred Piscop, edited by Will Shortz

Bike Week is a yearly international event that originated in Europe. It is typically a seven day event that advocates the importance of bicycling as a means of transportation. The event has been steadily gaining popularity in North American cities over the past decade. Bike Week takes place during the second week of May or June and is typically an entire week of city-wide cycling supplemented with events. The central aim of the event is to give citizens of a city the opportunity to help the environment and exercise in a fun and social way. Participants include professional cyclists, celebrities and individuals who choose cycling as a chief means of transportation for the week. In the United States of America, May is recognized as Bike Month and Bike Week is always either the first or second week of May. Wikipedia

If you subscribe to The New York Times on-line Premium Crosswords, you are probably familiar with the monthly bonus puzzle. For the month of May, the title of this nifty crossword is “Bike Week” and covers the event with nearly 40 entry/clues.

ACROSS: 1. Bike without pedaling, COAST; 6. City’s police bicycles, collectively, FLEET; 14. Bicycle wheel radius, SPOKE; 15. English RACER (bicycle type); 17. Ohio town called the Bicycle Capital of the Midwest, XENIA; 20. Seattle suburb known as the Bicycle Capital of the Northwest, REDMOND; 25. Many a BMX bike rider, TEEN; 40. Lisa of “Biker Boyz”, BONET; 42. Speed skater and bicycle racer Heiden, ERIC; 43. TOE clip (biker’s accessory); 45. Popular bicycle brand, ROSS; 56. Armstrong who wrote “It’s Not About the Bike”, LANCE; 59. Kind of bike tire, BALLOON; 64. Bike TRAIL (recreational path); 67. Hell’s ANGEL (biker); 71. “My bike can’t stand up because it’s two-TIRED”; 72. Korean automaker that started as a bicycle parts manufacturer, KIA.

DOWN: 4. Bicycle stunt, perhaps, SKID; 5. Bicycle racing’s La Vie Claire and others, TEAMS; 6. Bicycle racing’s Tour de FRANCE; 10. Tot’s ride before his first bike, TRIKE; 11. New York’s Five BORO Bike Tour; 12. Car-roof bike transporter, RACK; 21. Bike chain application, OIL; 25. Bike tire’s innards, TUBE; 27. Bike rider’s invitation, HOP ON; 34. Name in a “bicycle built for two” song, DAISY; 36. Canine escapee from Mrs. Gulch’s bicycle basket, TOTO; 4. Bike handlebar attachment, BELL; 49. Giro d’ ITALIA (annual bicycle race); 55. Bummers for bikers, FLATS; 56. “LOOK Ma! No hands!” (daredevil biker’s cry); 57. ANTI-lock (like some bicycle brakes).

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