Checkout Lines
Joe Cabrera
The “checkout lines” of the title are actually UPC codes. There are 12 different items here with their codes expressed by their 10 main UPC digits (not counting the prefix zero or the end check digit). Each outline represents the UPC for that specific item, and you determine those UPCs from top to bottom. They are evenly spaced for each item, just like the black bars and blank spaces in UPCs. The top half of the page is on the left side because it's all the left half of the UPCs; the bottom half of the page is all the right halves.
For example, the first grouping of similar silhouettes (a bag on its side) in the first row is 1 blank, 2 bags, 3 blanks, and 1 bag. This pattern is 1-2-3-1, which is the numeral five in UPC. Going down the page, you get 548001007, which is Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain Rice. (The bars representing digits of the left half of a UPC always start with a “blank” or white line, those of the right half always begin with a black line, and all the items in this puzzle reflect this same pattern.)
The products work out to:
| UPC | Product |
| 5480001007 | Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain Rice |
| 5150001667 | Smuckers Low Sugar Concord Grape Jelly |
| 4154855086 | Edy’s Grand Light Cookie Dough Ice Cream |
| 4460002514 | Clorox Mountain Fresh Bleach |
| 4410016927 | Hood Simply Smart Low Fat Milk |
| 2600000364 | Elmer’s Washable School Glue Gel |
| 1960004630 | Celeste Cheese Pizza for One |
| 7349120300 | Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding - 6 pack |
| 2066200276 | Newman’s Own Black Bean Corn Salsa |
| 4178000303 | Utz Cheese Popcorn |
| 7184010595 | Marie’s Honey Dijon Dressing |
| 5215900011 | Stonyfield Farms Banilla Yogurt |
The initial letters of the full product names spell USECHECKNUMS. Going back and determining those end check digits gives a UPC for one final product:
| UPC | Check # |
Product |
| 5480001007 | 3 |
Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain Rice |
| 5150001667 | 1 |
Smuckers Low Sugar Concord Grape Jelly |
| 4154855086 | 2 |
Edy’s Grand Light Cookie Dough Ice Cream |
| 4460002514 | 8 |
Clorox Mountain Fresh Bleach |
| 4410016927 | 4 |
Hood Simply Smart Low Fat Milk |
| 2600000364 | 3 |
Elmer’s Washable School Glue Gel |
| 1960004630 | 1 |
Celeste Cheese Pizza for One |
| 7349120300 | 7 |
Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding - 6 pack |
| 2066200276 | 1 |
Newman’s Own Black Bean Corn Salsa |
| 4178000303 | 4 |
Utz Cheese Popcorn |
| 7184010595 | 8 |
Marie’s Honey Dijon Dressing |
| 5215900011 | 0 |
Stonyfield Farms Banilla Yogurt |
312843171480 is the UPC for the product silhouetted by itself at the bottom of the page: Vanquish Extra Strength Pain Reliever Caplets. The area on the face of the box where the product name appears is a blank with a question mark to signal only this part for your final answer: VANQUISH