Good evening. The auction industry is going…going…down. Auction sales for the first half of the year at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips fell to $3.98 billion, down 6% compared with the same period in 2024, according to a recent report from research firm ArtTactic.

• It marks the lowest level in at least a decade (aside from the pandemic-affected 2020), and third-straight year of falling sales.
• Sales are now down 44%—or $3+ billion—from their peak in 2022.

A picture of decline: This sales drop can be attributed to less people buying art, per the report. That’s despite personal wealth in America, the world’s largest art market, reaching record highs—snapping a multi-century trend, Yale professor William Goetzmann, who’s studied the relationship between art prices and financial wealth going back 300+ years and found they’re “highly correlated,” told CNBC.

A fundamental shift could be underway. For decades, the art market has been driven largely by baby boomers, who built large collections as their wealth grew. But Gen Z and millennials, set to inherit $100 trillion from these boomers, are exhibiting different tastes—opting instead for luxury items like jewelry, handbags, wine, watches, and sports memorabilia, whose sales all continue to increase.

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Each of the following events happened on July 30. Your challenge is to put them in the order in which they occurred by year, earliest to latest. Answers at the bottom!

• A) The cult-classic stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is released. The Columbus, Ohio-based hamburger chain reportedly sees sales jump 30% the following week.
• B) Former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa disappears in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, under mysterious circumstances.
• C) President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law establishing “In God we trust” as the national motto of the United States.
• D) Uruguay defeats Argentina to win the first-ever World Cup⚽. The tournament has since gone on to become the most-watched sporting event globally, attracting billions of viewers every four years.

Hint: Winning = first (isn’t that how it usually works?)

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Today’s Conjoiner sequence will require a trip to the far corners of your mind to complete.

Today’s first clue: “Slang term for a getaway that doesn’t involve work”...

Note: A (potentially important) clue for today’s Conjoiner can be found at the bottom of our AM send. Just search “🍩 Choo-choo“ in your inbox.

Mini

Details matte-r in today's mini crossword. Do you have what it takes?

• Play today’s puzzle here.

Sudoku

Like roulette, today’s sudoku requires you to pick your numbers carefully—and they’re often a gamble.

• Play today's Sudoku here.

We’ve finally got enough data to start delivering official GOAT lists. So in lieu of a new GOATWar today, we'll once again be delivering results from the first string of competitions, determined via a data-driven process and input from people around the world.

🎮 BEST CLASSIC ARCADE GAMES

1. Ms. Pac-Man
2. Punch-Out!!
3. Donkey Kong
4. Galaga
5. Space Invaders

Explore the full list.

🦸 BEST SUPERHEROES

1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Wonder Woman
4. Spider-Man
5. Thor

Explore the full list.

🍨 BEST ICE CREAM BRANDS

1. Ben & Jerry's
2. Häagen-Dazs
3. Cold Stone Creamery
4. Blue Bell
5. Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto

Explore the full list.

P.S. Have an interesting idea for a GOATWar that you'd like us to host? Just hit reply and we'll see what we can do.

D, C, B, A (Reverse! Reverse!🕺)

• D) 1930: Uruguay defeats Argentina to win the first-ever World Cup⚽. The tournament has since gone on to become the most-watched sporting event globally, attracting billions of viewers every four years.
• C) 1956: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law establishing “In God we trust” as the national motto of the United States.
• B) 1975: Former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa disappears in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, under mysterious circumstances.
• A) 2004: The cult-classic stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is released. The Columbus, Ohio-based hamburger chain reportedly sees sales jump 30% the following week.