How many lollies can fit in a ginormous jar? 729,370.

The giant jar had travelled around New Zealand as part of the Air New Zealand Sweetstake, stopping in 11 regions. The winner was from Mount Maunganui.

Thousand of Kiwis turned up for the chance to win 50,000 Airpoints and use various creative methods to get to answer, Air New Zealand general manager domestic Scott Carr said.

 “One Nelson family had impressive mathematical software, while a Hamilton local even brought a 3D scanner down. We even had a class of schoolchildren visit us in Invercargill as part of their maths lesson,” Carr said.

Carr said that the guesses ranged from one to  1,000,000,000, with the winner guessing 729,374, just four lollies off.

 “We saw measuring tapes, some used AI, and others used the old-school method of counting a small square of lollies to then multiply.”

Throughout the 20-day event, New Zealanders submitted their guesses, with 1,300 lucky participants winning a share of one million Airpoints Dollars.

“Kiwi came out in force to see the jar firsthand, with many employing different tactics to understand the dimensions of the jar in the hope a mathematical equation would help them guess correctly.”