> -thinks- either Wolfspirit is being silly, or the NZ distributors are keeping something from us that we should have been told -

Yup. Those darned distributors.
Or you aren't thinking of Smarties. What coating? Globby mess?

OK, MY Smarties [NOT those mini- Sweet-Tart things. Knockoffs. Inferior quality. Humph.] are little round candies, maybe... seven cm in diameter [can't estimate very well, but you get the idea]. They are about the consistancy of chewable vitamins. They come in pastel colors and the outside rim is slightly in relief, or there is a dent in the middle, whatever. [Imagine circular sugar cubes, only less grainy and harder to disolve.]

Now, here is my rather detailed method of eating them:

First, you count how many of each color are in the wrapper. [Yeah, everybody does this, I know, but it gets better.] Whichever color is most prevalent, select the one farthest from you in the wrapper. Suck merrily until the rim is off and it is only a flat disk. Maneuver it with tongue between your upper lip and gum, so it will stay without consious effort until removed. Repeat until the most prevalent color is equal to the second most prevalent. Do the same with the second most prevalent, alternating with the most prevalent, until they are down to the number of the third most common, trying all the while to taste the difference between the colors-- and failing miserably. When there are only one of each color left, remove all of the stored discs from their respective storage places, crushing them together against the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Suck until thay are disolved, or, if they are in that horrid size where they don't break or disolve, just chew. Take the remaining whole Smarties from the wrapper in the cupped palm of your right hand [the wrapper being all this time in your left] and chuck them into your mouth. Chew and swallow. Take the wrapper, fold it in half [hamburger] once, in half the other way, and once more in half, crumple up, and toss.
The next time you eat or brush your teeth, discover no less than two and no more than five forgotten discs. If eating, especially something with meat my mother prepared, chew happily. If brushing teeth, spit out in disgust.

Thank you for your time,

Chr"don't ask"is