Sweet Melissa

By Thursdays, The New York Times crossword puzzle becomes somewhat tricky. Most of the time I am eventually able to figure it out, but I usually “cheat” some amount with the help of Google.

Today, the clue for 42-across (7 spaces) was:

What notorious 1999 computer virus was named after an exotic dancer?

I was able to fill in enough of the surrounding squares to realize it was

MELISSA

Melissa was a computer malware program known as a worm, a standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Often, worms use computer networks to spread themselves, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it.

Do you see how the black squares form a question mark? The theme is found in 17-across:

Classic 1940s-'50s quiz show

Namely,

Twenty Questions

Twenty of the clues are questions of the sort one might find on a television quiz show.

This was clever and provided a good excuse to share some Allman Brothers music: a perfect combination!

  

If I do not post again before the weekend, have a good one!

Love,

Rebecca