I have friend who is addicted to polo- mints, so I though, to help them out, that I would devise a system to help slow down their manic consumption rate.
Polo-mints, for those who don't know, are small and torus shaped, so the idea I had was to modify them to become a small nut, with the centre hole now screw threaded. The outside shape would also be altered in the hexagonal nut direction.
The mints will now come all screwed unto a recyclable plastic centre pole, capped off at one end, so they would only come off in one direction. A small spanner to undo them is sold separately.
This results in a certain amount of judicious fumbling being required to undo each mint. This would naturally increase as each one was removed, because the subsequent ones require more and more turns to get them up off the central shaft.
As Polo-mints are quite tough, trying to "cheat" by breaking them off would be virtually impossible, given the extra support of the internal column.
A word of warning: Don't try taking off the last one whilst trying to negotiate a busy roundabout when driving a car or on a bicycle.-- xenzag, Aug 29 2006 I've known some polo nuts... http://www.sportpol.../Team_Positions.htm [normzone, Sep 19 2006] Goodun, I can see Nestle nicking this idea.
Also did you know that when Polos are crushed in a darkened room, triboluminescence can be seen? Blue light can be seen as a result of friction between the sugar crystals when the Polos are broken, sucrose tends to emit a blue light, which is probably why peoples nasal passages glow blue at raves.-- skinflaps, Aug 29 2006 Good idea. It's like the guy who ate a jeep. It would have been fatal except it took so long to disassemble it.-- ldischler, Aug 29 2006 //which is probably why peoples nasal passages glow blue at raves//
This could be because some common recreational drugs glow blue/purple under uv light.-- webfishrune, Aug 31 2006 Or because of the dangerous activity, popular with ravers, of snorting Polos.-- imaginality, Sep 19 2006 random, halfbakery