That's Sweet

There’s a big jar in Mr. Elliot’s Sweet Ecstasy candy shop, in downtown Millersville.

The jar is filled to bursting with M&Ms in a rainbow of colors. There’s a small sign before the jar that reads, “Take a guess! The one closest to the number of M&Ms in the jar by Saturday night wins the whole jarful!” His jar of M&Ms has been the favorite subject of discussion all week in Mrs. Field’s class. Finally, she suggested that the class take a scientific approach and try to figure out how many M&Ms were in the jar by running a series of experiments. For example, they could fill up smaller bottles with M&Ms and then estimate how much bigger Mr. Elliot’s jar was by comparison. Then they’d have a more accurate guess and hence a better chance of winning the prize. Five of the students thought this was a fine idea. Since one of them won, and all of them were fairly close, Mrs. Field’s suggestion must have helped! Determine the full name of each of these students (one student was named Grace), what each one’s final guess was, and which one won the jar for the closest guess. – By Shelly Hazard NOTE: The actual number of M&Ms in the jar is NOT one of the numbers listed in the puzzle. The numbers in the puzzle are the closest guesses to the actual number, and include the guess which won the jar.

1. Ms. Black’s guess, which was 787, was the farthest away from the right number of M&Ms.

2. Zach, whose last name wasn’t Plummer, guessed higher than the person who guessed 674 M&Ms, but lower than Mr. Wild guessed.

3.The person who won the jar of M&Ms guessed an even number. Joe’s last name wasn’t Horn. Mr. Smith didn’t guess 750. Cindy’s guess was smaller than Adam’s guess.

4. Joe didn’t guess 685. Adam, whose last name wasn’t Wild, guessed 700 M&Ms.

5. The winning number was higher than Mr. Smith’s guess.

6. Adam’s last name wasn’t Horn. Zach’s last name wasn’t Smith.