# Dueling M&Ms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669 "2008-08-20T15:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/1 "2008-08-20T15:05:06Z")
I know I read this thread here, in the last year or so (though it might be an older one that was linked). Someone posted a story about having duels with their candies, and eating the “losers”. Does this ring any bells? Sorry, but the hamsters have failed me. The reason I enquire about this now - other than the hilarty inherent in that thread - is that I just read what appears to be the exact same story on the Friends Page of my LJ. He had found it on Roger Ebert’s webpage, where it was claimed to have been sent in by one R. Crutch. Did one of our Dopers send this in? Or someone who read it here? Or was the original thread here copied from somewhere else? 😕 I’m goin’ crazy(er) here, folks; help me out! ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/2 "2008-08-20T15:18:36Z")
I remember the thread. I’ll search a bit. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/3 "2008-08-20T15:44:15Z")
The story you’re thinking of has been circulating the net for a long time. I saw it somewhere before I signed up here, and I don’t think it was new then. ---
**Author:** ![Pithy\_Moniker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8dc957/32.png) [@Pithy\_Moniker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithy_Moniker)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/4 "2008-08-20T15:47:59Z")
Is this what you’re talking about? I can’t remember ever seeing it on the SDMB but I did receive it in an email a long time ago. > **[Survival Of The Fittest \[The M&M battle\] - Laugh Break](https://laughbreak.com/clean-jokes/survival-of-the-fittest/)** > > Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels. Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger. I apply pressure, squeezing them... ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/5 "2008-08-20T15:54:09Z")
My boss keeps a jar of random candy in his office. After reading that, I immediately went and fetched a bag of M&Ms. Far as I can tell, if you squeeze them between thumb and index finger, the one pressing against your thumb will crack first. Not always, but of the duels I waged, all but one followed this rule. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/6 "2008-08-20T16:16:32Z")
I told my story of receiving this e-mail a couple of years ago in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=235134). ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/7 "2008-08-20T16:55:03Z")
Yep, **Hal** , it was you! Dunno how I didn’t remember, seeing as how your posts are a source of endless amusement for me. 😛 I was just confused in my thinking, and conflated the fact that you have a similar _ahem_ hobby, with the body of the e-mail itself. Thanks for fighting my ignorance so quickly, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/8 "2008-08-20T18:47:31Z")
I hold candy combats with M&M’s this way too. Skittles are no fun because they just mush and Reeses Pieces are too brittle and break. M&M’s have that nice balance between breaking and mushing so the piece who “loses” ends up fractured, but not falling on the floor. I’ll go you one better though. I like to microwave M&M’s on a plate(spread out for maximum coverage and to ensure the microwaves penetrate them all as evenly as possible) for a few seconds and then gently smash them against the roof of my mouth with my tongue until they release their warm gushy goodness. Am I the only one who does this? Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/9 "2008-08-20T19:22:28Z")
MMmmm, that sounds fantastic!! Off to buy candies now… ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/10 "2008-08-20T19:26:57Z")
Start small, put about ten in the microwave for ten seconds tops. Try them. If they’re not warm enough, put another ten(fresh ones) in for about twelve or thirteen seconds. Increment the time for each group by about two or three seconds at most. The candy shells will not feel warm, but if you overdo it you can end up with scalding chocolate inside. That’s not good. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/11 "2008-08-20T22:02:36Z")
In the immortal words of one of my childhood heroes: Ooooooohhhhhh, YEAH!! Yes, Mister Kool-Aid was my hero; what of it? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/12 "2008-08-20T23:09:14Z")
[QUOTE=Mtgman] I like to microwave M&M’s on a plate(spread out for maximum coverage and to ensure the microwaves penetrate them all as evenly as possible) for a few seconds and then gently smash them against the roof of my mouth with my tongue until they release their warm gushy goodness. Am I the only one who does this? [/QUOTE] Sometimes I just keep them in my mouth until the shell is almost dissolved and the chocolate is softened, then I crunch it. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/13 "2008-08-21T07:09:49Z")
And here I thought this was going to be about the time-honored sport of [peep jousting](http://www.phancy.com/peeps/joust/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/14 "2008-08-21T17:51:24Z")
I used to do this all the time with [Smarties](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties_%28Nestl%C3%A9%29), which we had in the UK long before those upstart M&Ms first swam the Atlantic. I never forwarded the winners to Nestlé, though; I just ate them last. [Minstrels](http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Minstrels_Chocolates.html) are good for duelling, too. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dueling-m-ms/460669/15 "2008-08-21T18:15:35Z")
You Brits and your wacky, lets-see-if-we-can-get-this-one-past-those-uptight-moral-judgement-do-gooders candy names. Minstrels?!!! Really?