Solution: Chain whose name came from a Boston hotel whose sign was too expensive to remove - NYT Crossword

This clue is great trivia on its own, and it can take you down a rabbit hole if you let it. The [Chain whose name came from a Boston hotel whose sign was too expensive to remove] is SHERATON Hotels. The structure in question, with its majestic, electrified sign, was acquired in 1939 by two entrepreneurs who went on to build the global brand. They sold the Boston building in 1950, though; the new owners ponied up enough money to adjust the sign to say “Shelton” and hosted a number of celebrities, including the playwright Eugene O’Neill, who took his last breath in Room 401. A few years after, the hotel changed hands again and became a Boston University dormitory; it still fills that function today, although it now goes by Kilachand Hall, and O’Neill’s ghost is apparently in residence.