Daily puzzle

Put A&P back in order

Seven beats from our edition of A&P by John Updike, shuffled. Drag them, or use the arrows, until the story runs straight. No account, no streak to lose.

  1. The girls arrive Sammy spots three young women in swimsuits entering the store and is instantly distracted from his register.
  2. Cataloguing Queenie He studies their leader closely, ranking the trio and imagining the lives and class of girls who would shop dressed this way.
  3. The store reacts Sammy notices the other customers, whom he privately mocks as sheep, registering the disruption while continuing their routines.
  4. Lengel intervenes The manager confronts the girls at the counter, lecturing them on how customers are expected to dress and embarrassing them publicly.
  5. Sammy quits To impress the girls and protest the humiliation, Sammy declares that he quits, hoping they will hear him.
  6. The empty gesture The girls walk out without stopping or acknowledging his stand; Lengel warns him he will regret throwing away the job.
  7. The hard world outside Sammy steps into the parking lot and senses that the life ahead will offer him no easy landing.