Spectrum #24: Order these shopping firsts by year — the solution
The Spectrum puzzle from September 7, 2026: six things on one hidden scale, earliest to latest, with every figure and where the checks were best spent.
The puzzle
Order these shopping firsts by year, earliest at the top and latest at the bottom. The board opened in this order:
- First barcode scanned
- Self-service grocery
- Online grocery ordering
- Shopping cart
- Self-checkout
- Frozen TV dinner
Nothing was in its place; First barcode scanned opened 3 places from home.
The walkthrough
The ends first. Self-service grocery is the earliest of the six at 1916 and Self-checkout the latest at 1992. Anchor those and the middle four are what is left to place.
Where the scale splits. The widest gap is between Self-service grocery (1916) and Shopping cart (1937) — 21 years apart. Everything above that line belongs on the earliest side and everything below it on the latest side, so sorting the six into those two groups is most of the puzzle.
The closest call. Online grocery ordering (1989) and Self-checkout (1992) are only 3 years apart — the pair that is a coin flip without the figures, and the place to spend a check: a check locks whatever is already right and leaves only the wrong tiles to swap.
The answer
| # | Earliest to Latest | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Self-service grocery | 1916 |
| 2 | Shopping cart | 1937 |
| 3 | Frozen TV dinner | 1953 |
| 4 | First barcode scanned | 1974 |
| 5 | Online grocery ordering | 1989 |
| 6 | Self-checkout | 1992 |
Previous: Spectrum #23 (Sun, Sep 6) · Next: Spectrum #25 (Tue, Sep 8)
About Spectrum
Spectrum is Noggin’s daily ordering puzzle: six things, one hidden scale, three checks. Tiles in the right place lock green; the figures turn over when the board is done. How to play Spectrum, or play today’s.