N Candy AA: Round of 32, Flight 2

April 7, 2010

Confused? Hungry? Searching for answers? Look no further. Bracket is here, voting is now.

1 Skor vs. 8 Caramello/Caramilk. Skor is a great candy bar, one I used to hoard my allowance to buy, but some folks like a mushy center, versus a hard one. (Hew.) Skor wins, but the Carae make it close.

5 M&Ms vs. 4 Mars Bar. I remember the fights over Special Dark as a kid -- physical scraps, at times -- and while I was a Mr. Goodbar girl, I'm still surprised Mars Bar beat SD to get here. I don't think it's getting any further, either. Yes, the plain M&M is, you know, plain, but commenters made a good point during the last round about the way M&Ms let you customize the size of each bite. And if you let the green one melt in your mouth: good luck! Ms for the W.

6 Kit Kat vs. 3 Mounds/Bounty. I love Mounds. I love the texture, I love the contrast with the dark chocolate (one of the few times I prefer it to milk chocolate), I love that it isn't a boring Kit Kat. But can it fight off the coconut-haters and -allergic, and the mint and mini Kit Kat fans? Probably not.

10 Dove vs. 2 100 Grand. Dove is perfectly fine chocolate, but I for one prefer a liiiiittle more textural interest in a candy bar. Keckler is the crisped-rice fan of the two of us; ordinarily, I find it tasteless, but it's just right in the 100 Grand. I think the Hundo takes it, but another upset by Dove wouldn't shock me.

1 Milky Way vs. 8 Hershey Kiss. Two heavy hitters here -- and if you include all the Kiss varieties, that might give the Hershey entry the edge. But if I could only eat one for the rest of my life, even with all the kinds of Kiss, I'd go Milky Way. Hard to say what happens; I predict an upset.

5 Twix vs. 4 Nestle Crunch. Does anyone else remember when they introduced Twix here in the States? I was six, and for a six-year-old, it was like the Beatles were coming. Then: letdown. Well, "letdown" isn't the right word; I've already mentioned that I've never gotten Twix, but in fact, it's that it's so close to the ideal candy bar, and by just missing the mark, it ends up missing it big-time. Just a few tweaks, and it's awesome: fresher biscuit, firmer chocolate, something. As it is, meh -- but not as meh as Nestle Crunch, which won't even cut it for me as workday grazing chocolate. Twix by a nose.

11 Whoppers/Maltesers vs. 3 Three Musketeers. I am amazed that malt balls survived the Round of 64, but I wouldn't call 53% of the vote a mandate. The Musketeers, meanwhile, whipped a bar that I suspect most people haven't tried, which isn't a firm directive either. Against a bar that's more popular than the Krackel, the balls (hew) stumble and fall; Manny, Moe, and Jack for the win.

7 Rolo vs. 15 Lindt/Lindor. Lindt beating Heath is a huge, huge upset -- not in terms of the margin (it squeaked past with 51%), but I considered Heath a titan in this bracket whose defenses no truffle could breach. And it looks likely to win again, because Rolo didn't exactly trounce Tolberone in the last round, and people seem quite protective of it. On the other hand, those Rolo treats y'all kept recommending in the comments could give it a boost. I plan to buy a roll and a bag of pretzel rods and work some magic with the microwave the minute I get home. But I don't think it's enough. Lindt/Windor.