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Price tags · Puzzle #1 · Wednesday, September 30

Price tags: the answers

Four questions, each with one true number. Here they are with their answers, how to reason each one out, and where the number comes from. Play today's Price tags.

  1. 1. Monet's Meules (Haystacks): What did Claude Monet's 1890 painting Meules (Haystacks) sell for at Sotheby's in New York in May 2019?

    Photo: Claude Monet, Public domain
    What
    One of 25 paintings in Monet's Haystacks series, completed in 1890
    Rarity
    One of the few in the series still in private hands
    Sold
    Sotheby's, New York, May 2019

    The answer: $110.7 million. Sotheby's said it was the first Impressionist work to sell for more than $100 million at auction.

    Napkin math: Monet is the most famous Impressionist, and the Haystacks are his signature series, so somewhere around $100 million is plausible.

    Source: CNBC, Monet 'Meules' painting sells for record $110.7 million at auction

  2. 2. Lucasfilm: How much did Disney agree to pay George Lucas for Lucasfilm in 2012?

    Photo: The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0
    Bought by
    Disney, October 2012
    Star Wars box office
    $4.4 billion worldwide to date
    Also included
    Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound

    The answer: $4.05 billion. Disney paid about half in cash and half in stock, and announced a new Star Wars film for 2015.

    Napkin math: Star Wars had earned $4.4 billion at the box office over 35 years; a buyer paying roughly that much for the future of the franchise is a reasonable guess.

    Source: The Walt Disney Company press release (SEC Form 8-K exhibit), Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm Ltd.

  3. 3. A national parks annual pass: What did the America the Beautiful annual pass to US national parks cost a US resident in 2026?

    Photo: Mark Wagner, CC BY 2.5
    Sold by
    National Park Service
    Non-resident version
    $250

    The answer: $80. Visitors from outside the US pay $250 for their version of the annual pass.

    Napkin math: A single carload into a big park costs around $30 to $35, so a year of visits costs a few times that.

    Source: National Park Service, Entrance Passes

  4. 4. Honolulu Skyline rail: In 2020, what did the city estimate Honolulu's elevated rail line would cost in total, including financing?

    Photo: Musashi1600, CC BY 3.0 us
    Built by
    Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART)
    Full completion pushed to
    2033

    The answer: about $11 billion. Civil Beat reported the price had more than doubled since the city signed its federal funding deal in 2012.

    Napkin math: Elevated US rail costs hundreds of millions per mile; a line of about 20 miles plus financing gets you past $10 billion.

    Source: Honolulu Civil Beat, City Pushes Rail's Opening To 2033, Price Tag Soars To $11 Billion

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