Exsqueeze me? Baking powder?
Simplest would be to assign a first place vote a factor of 10, second place 9, third 8, etc. Then multiply that by the number of votes (you can toss out anything past 10th place in the list to make it easier).
Not the best, but you won’t have one vote for pine nuts at the top of your list. One vote for pine nuts at first would have a score of 10… three votes for peanuts in third place would have 24.
That’s a workable idea and may be worth a try if we don’t get other voters to mention those seldom mentioned things. Since Little Nemo’s observation about the “Pine Nuts” plankter has mentioned them at #6 which would shift their composite to (1+6)/2 or [3.5] which might be easier to swallow but still doesn’t really solve the problem. Your way is along the lines of a weighted average approach which might be another fine-tuning method (if I can remember how they work!) This wikipedia article strikes me as way too much shuffling of the dishes for the victuals involved. 
Does anybody have such a thing in simpler form, or is Spud’s approach the way we should go?
An alternative would be to avoid even including nuts that don’t get mentioned at least x-number of times, say three?
For simplicity’s sake I’m going to do the next batch (we now have some new data) with an at-least-three-mentions approach to avoid all the extra number juggling.
If somebody else would like to do some other math exercise(s) please be my guest.
You are conducting an internet message board poll on “What are your favorite nuts.” You are getting answers like “Right”, “Glen Beck”, and “Dough.” This isn’t your Doctoral Thesis.
I’ve been an analyst for 30 some years. K.I.S.S. really works.
I guess I should at least list my favorites:
- Cashew
- Peanut
- Almond (especially smoked)
- Macadamia
- Pecan
- Walnut
- Pistachio
- Hazel
Three posts in a row… I may be setting a record for someone who can’t get his thoughts together in time for the edit window.
The problem with your method is you could have 250 first place votes for Cashews (since we all know they are the best), 500 for second, and another 250 for third, and it would come out to second overall rank. One vote for the Coco de Mar gets it a first place spot. So, 1,000 votes for Cashews in the top three doesn’t out weigh one vote for the Coco de Mar.
So very true! And thanks for your votes!
Something about all this reminds me of somebody’s rules for precision:
- Measure with a micrometer
- Mark with chalk
- Cut with an ax
Believe it or not, I spent a number of years at my job doing statistical analysis using first Lotus 1-2-3 and then Excel spreadsheets both of which had elaborate formulas and functions. I even studied (on the side, not formally) statistics more or less as a hobby, but I never got to be more than an amateur at it. I suppose my father’s fascination with number-crunching and trivia must have rubbed off on me! I really enjoy it – if that’s not obvious! 
Just for the hell of it I did a simplistic Low-High breakdown of the list:
As of
#45 Today, 09:27 AM
Spud
Low High
1) Macadamia 6) Macadamia
1. Pine Nut 6. pine nut
1. Pistachios 7) Pistachio
1) Pecan 8. Pecan
1. Cashew 9. cashew
1) Peanut 9.) Peanut
1. Almonds 10) Almond
2. hazelnut 8) Hazel
2. Walnuts 9) Walnut
3 - Hickory 5) Hickory nut
3. Brazil 10) Brazil nut
7. Chesnut 11) Chestnut
12) Kola nut
“Nuts” best to worst:
Pecan.
Pistachio.
Pine nut.
Macadamia.
Hazlenut.
Chestnut.
Walnut.
Almond.
Brazil nut.
Peanut.
Cashew.
No clue what a kola nut is, never had hickory to my knowledge. Not sure where I’d put Anthony McAuliffe, somewhere near the top.
No Love for Grapenuts? 
- Pecans
- Peanuts
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Brazil Nuts
- Hazelnuts
All other nuts except:
- Walnuts Blech
- Cashew
- Pine Nut
- Pistachio
- Walnut
- Pecan
- Peanut
- Almond
But you’ve tasted them, they’re used to make every brand of cola.
[ol]
[li]Pistachio[/li][li]Peanut (yes I know it’s not a nut but I don’t care!)[/li][li]Cashew[/li][li]Almond[/li][li]Black Walnut[/li][li]English Walnut[/li][li]Filbert[/li][li]Brazil nut[/li][li]Pecan[/li][li]Macadamia[/li][li]Chestnut[/li][/ol]
Most of 'em aren’t true nuts. Only chestnut and hazel/filbert from the OP are really nuts; many are seeds that grow inside of fruits (or outside, in the case of the weird cashew).
Is that a whoosh? My understanding is that actual kola nuts haven’t been used as a flavoring in any major brand of cola in decades. Cola flavor is a now a mixture of citrus, vanilla, and cinnamon.