The age-old question has finally been answered: how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Our generation grew up with the commercials of the boy asking Mr. Owl that very question.

Tootsie Pops are continuously ranked in the top 10 of “Best Candies” lists and have been enjoyed by kids, teens, and adults since their creation in 1931. Thankfully, a group of seven Randall Raiders has come together to answer the question the question that has been killing us since childhood. The group was given a large bag of small Tootsie Pops and told to pick their favorite flavor and begin. The only rule was “no biting.” Each of these Raiders used a different method to reach the center in order to give the most accurate average.

“Whenever I eat Tootsie Pops I just bite straight into it but doing it this way was a hassle,” senior Cailey Dinga said

Dinga’s Tootsie Pop lasted for 912 licks, making her the closest to the average of 851 licks. Junior Calista Essick was the farthest away from the average taking 1443 licks to reach the center of the Tootsie Pop.

“I’d rather die than do this again,” Essick said. “I usually eat my Tootsie Pop in 2 bites.”

While Essick was very clear about her resentment towards the experience, senior Christian Hurd felt the opposite.

“I would definitely do this again,” Hurd said. “It gives me an excuse to eat candy.”

Hurd, along with the other participants, eventually felt his tongue go numb. Freshman Champe Clenney’s tongue even started bleeding after the experiment.

“About halfway through I got a cut on my tongue but I would do it again,” Clenny said.

Freshman Brianna Hall sided with Hurd and Clenney and said that she would like to try with a big Tootsie Pop, but another contributor, sophomore Derek Lyons, decided that this project was just too much work.

“The Tootsie Pop felt like sandpaper,” Lyons said. “It wasn’t enjoyable at all; it got all over my mouth.”

On the other hand, junior Emmett Schniederjan said he would do it again on one condition.

“I would only do this again if my Tootsie Pop was tangerine flavored,” Schniederjan said. “I chose cherry, but I should’ve done tangerine.”