If the average (arithmetic mean) of 16 consecutive odd integers is 414, then the least of these integers is
Choose the correct choice from the following answers:  A) 399  B) 418  C) 519  D) 521  E) 525

Rationale: "a very helpful rule to know in arithmetic is the rule that in evenly spaced sets , average = median . because the average will equal the median in these sets , then we quickly know that the median of this set of consecutive odd integer numbers is 414 . there are 16 numbers in the set , and in a set with an even number of terms the median is just the average of the two most median terms ( here the 7 th and 8 th numbers in the set ) . this means that numbers 7 and 8 in this set are 413 and 415 . because we know that number 7 is 413 , we know that the smallest number is 7 odd numbers below this , which means that it is 7 * 2 = 14 below this ( every odd number is every other number ) . therefore 413 - 14 = 399 , answer choice a ."
Answer: A