Whoa! Nice one,good and varied.

Really good grid Miss Slink. I think pedant might be taking it too far, although generally I like a little pedantry. There are probably obscure boy bands with all mixes of numbers but the solution given is the neat fix and makes sense! Thanks for the fun!!!!

Nice grid, if not taxing. Older gridders may recall 999 but no one would mistake them for a boy band.

You're really slipping here pedant. 3/5 stars for the grid. 1/5 for the pedantry.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I'm aware (and a fan of) the old punk band 999 (though I am not an older gridder myself), but as has been pointed out, they'd probably smack you round the chops if you called them a "boyband".

Maybe you're getting them confused with short-lived noughties heart throbs 888?

I like you,Miss Slink.

Thank you, Slinky fan. Nice username, by the way.

Easy Pedant, I mean no offence! I stand by my choice of bands, though: I think boy bands are generally considered to be a pop sub genre in themselves these days, and anyone who's heard a song by 999, or even just seen a photo of them, would agree they're very different to the rest of the bands I put in that category. Surely 999 are no more a boyband for being young blokes than, say, Busted are a punk band because they played guitars, dyed their hair stupid colours and came together as a band independently before they signed a major label deal. Or at least, that's my opinion on the matter.