HeadScratcher No. 39: It's all a numbers game...

So let’s review. I admit — this week’s HeadScratcher had complicated directions.

Here’s what it said:

We’re going to try something a little different this week. Consider, if you will, the following five bands:

The Commodores
Led Zeppelin
The Spin Doctors
U2
The Wallflowers

Now, put them in an order — and be prepared to explain the logic behind said order. But there’s a catch: There’s a gap in the sequence. Tell us why the gap is there. [Bonus Points: Name a band that could fill the gap – there's more than one possible answer.]

Most of you knew that each band had a hit song with a number in  the title: U2′s "One," the Spin Doctors’ "Two Princes," the Commodores’ "Three Times a Lady," Led Zeppelin’s "Four Sticks," and the Wallflowers’ "6th Avenue Heartache." And, as such, you figured out the order, and that the lack of a song with "5" in the title was the aforementioned gap. I immediately thought of "Five Years" by David Bowie (pictured). But you suggested others, mostly Alan Jackson’s "It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere," the Doors’ "Five to One," the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s "Take Five," and Lou Bega’s "Mambo #5."

But wait — there’s more.

addCredit(“David Bowie: Chris Walter/WireImage.com”)

So here’s the "more" I was referring to earlier. Friday was May 5, or el cinco de Mayo, so the fact that 5 was the missing number in the sequence was not an accident. It was also not an accident that Gary Susman and I had already consumed half a pitcher of margaritas before coming up with the question. So felicitaciones then go to Maribeth Macaisa, who was the only PopWatcher to make that spicy, tequila-flavored connection.

Now let’s all bask in the glow of PopWatcher genius Harold Reynolds, who came up with this crazy-innovative alternative answer:
"One Headlight" by the Wallflowers
"Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors
"Three Times a Lady" by the Commodores
"4th of July" by U2
and "Ten Years Gone" by Led Zeppelin
bridging the gap with: "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton
(now that’s thinking, Mr. Lincoln!)

Then there’s the rest of you, who please me to no end with your dilligence and enthusiasm (no, seriously…):
Connie L. Chilton
Ben Chung
Martha Clayton-Rodrigues
Angie Collins
Ken Daniels
Jeremy Dillman
Nate Divy
Mike Flohr
Lance Johnson
Kat Julien
Astrid Krieger
Mary Margaret Langton
Todd Dallas LaPlace
Jen Martin
Brenda Neuman-Sheldon
Kate Royce
Mark Sedor
Megan G. Weber

[Finally, a programming note: Last week,I launched much fanfare over someone named Patrick Bannister being thepresident of Clever-Cleverland. One snafu: Although Bannister also got the correct answer, it was actually one Adam Kennedy who made the initializedremark that, momentarily, melted this blogfather's iron-cold heart withpeals of laughter. Mea culpa, Adam. I've made the change in theoriginal item, and hopefully there won't be a grand jury convened toinvestigate what else I've screwed up along the way. (Please, God, no.)]