A fiendish puzzle
By Whaley Shark
July 30 2007
Less than a month to go 'till it all starts again, hooray! But that's still three weeks of no rugby. Boo! To while away the hours until Samoa (or Bayonne for some), Whaley Shark has put on his extra special "fiendish" hat and, accompanied by much manic cackling, has put together a puzzle to tax the nerdiest of geeks. So have a go and win a prize...
All clues are associated with No.1 songs from the last 50 years. Be careful - there are slightly different versions of the charts published but I don’t think it will matter too much which you use. There is no more than one clue associated with any particular year. As many answers as possible have a rugby or Sale connection. Some clues are a bit cryptic. Apostrophes have been omitted. I believe everything is correct but I accept responsibility and apologise for any errors.
I’ll put any correct answers I receive by 18th August (click on my name on this board to get an email address to establish contact) in a draw for a small prize (liquid refreshment for over 18s, chocolate for under 18s), to be handed over at the Samoa game.
(Note that the grid is too big to fit on a standard page, so you'll have to follow the link and print it. Sorry.)
ACROSS
1 John Travolta, Olivia Newton John and PSA to Mr McAlister 5,3,3,4,1,4
6 Status Quo end up at the bottom of the GP 4,4
9 A sparkling drink of champagne (vintage 1982) and orange juice at the RFU 5,4
11 (and 8 down) The first video ever played on MTV was lethal to this 5,4
12 The Sharks have signed the All Blacks en masse; all I and the Everly Brothers have to do is - 5
14 Theme song of our neighbours in Eastlands 4,4
15 Abba’s northwest rugby club playing in ND2 next season 8
17 The name of the game 5
18 For a GP game in Europe, the fans can join in 3,5,9
19 Perhaps what we should do to the memory of last season, Abba-esque 7
20 This Sale playing and coaching duo Should Have Known Better 3,7
23 Lots of this wrapped around bumps and bruises by the end of the game, but without the Vanilla flavour 3
26 Simply Red’s only number one and a possible innovation for the Sharks village 10
28 Our adaptable Aquatic forward isn’t a doctor 5
30 I don’t suppose this singer of Flava is any relation to our Philippe 5
31 If the ref thinks it is, you’ll spend 10 minutes in the company of the Pet Shop Boys 3,1,3
32 Too Close to a traditional Sale and Sale Sharks colour 4
34 Cliff Richard sings about the Jets 3,5,4
35 and 36 The thousandth number one, Mr Presley 3,5
37 and 42 “I’d do anything for love (but I won’t play prop)”, even though I’ve got the physique 4,4
39 Westlife and Barry Manilow give Ben Evans a nickname 5
41 A traditional proppish shape according to the Sugababes 5,5
44 The Men at Work came from the same country as this cabinet making loose forward 3,9
46 The ideal interval between matches, says Craig 5,4
48 Take That, floodlights! 5
49 A 10/15 and a coach by Chicory Tip 4,8
50 Wonderful but the only one for this Louis, also featured in “Good Morning Vietnam” 9
51 A New England state the Bee Gees sang about 13
52 The Saxons sorted out Razorlight’s revolutionary side at EP this summer 7
DOWN
2 There were Too Many Broken Hearts when ours retired 8
3 The Beatles might need one for the fun bus 6,2,4
4 Frank Ifield is Wayward, and breaking this is VERY bad form in the scrum 4
5 The aftermath of a 1957 Jason White hit on Elvis Presley 3,5,2
6 Policing the gap in the lineout 4,5,2,5,2,2
7 Mid season month on Sale’s 102nd birthday 8
8 (and 11 across) The first video ever played on MTV was lethal to this 5,4
10 Peters & Lee singing for Jos 7,4
13 Andy Titterell’s Clash last season, but you might need to swap the verbs round 6,1,2,2,6,1,4
16 Spencer Davis gives the ball to Stan who needs to - - - 4,2,7
21 The Rolling Stones first number one and perhaps our theme song last season 3,3,4,3
22 Will Smith played for Neath before the Ospreys, perhaps 3,2,5
24 A car now getting a Little Bit More blame for Mark Cueto’s recent injuries 7,3
25 Cliff Richard’s first number one 6,4
27 Our 7 could 6,3
29 Oh Carolina, or is it Seabass? 6
33 Barry Stewart at pace 7,4
38 We did too much of this last season, Eminem 4,4,2
40 Paul can write to the Sharks at No 19 10
43 Thunderclap Newman playing at 10 puts something - - - 2,3,3
45 and 47 Robin Beck says Selorm Kuadey’s try at EP against Bath was the - - , at EP at least 5,4