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Price tags · Puzzle #11 · Saturday, October 10

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. A monthly home electricity bill: What was the average monthly residential electricity bill in the US in 2024?

    Photo: Asurnipal, CC BY-SA 4.0
    Measured by
    US Energy Information Administration
    Average monthly use
    About 863 kilowatt-hours
    Highest state
    Hawaii

    The answer: about $142. Hawaii's average bill topped $212 a month, the highest of any state.

    Napkin math
    1. 863kilowatt-hours a month
    2. ×$0.15(15 cents) a kilowatt-hour

    ≈$129.45

    Source: US Energy Information Administration, 2024 Average Monthly Bill - Residential (Table 5.a)

  2. 2. A year of United passengers: United Airlines flew about 181 million passengers in 2025. How much did it take in from passenger tickets?

    Network
    More than 380 destinations on six continents

    The answer: about $53 billion. Passenger tickets made up about nine-tenths of United's $59.1 billion in revenue that year.

    Napkin math
    1. 181Mpassengers in 2025
    2. ×$300a ticket

    ≈$54.3B

    Source: United Airlines Holdings, Form 10-K for 2025

  3. 3. The Scream by Edvard Munch: What did Edvard Munch's 1895 pastel version of The Scream sell for at Sotheby's in New York in May 2012?

    Photo: Edvard Munch, Public domain
    What
    An 1895 pastel, one of four versions of The Scream
    Rarity
    The only version still privately owned
    Sold
    Sotheby's, New York, 2012, after 12 minutes of bidding

    The answer: $119.9 million. At the time it became the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

    Napkin math: It's one of the most recognised images in art and the last version available to buy, so expect a record-level price of around $100 million.

    Source: BBC News, Edvard Munch's iconic artwork The Scream sold for $120m

  4. 4. A year of school breakfasts: What did the US School Breakfast Program cost in total in fiscal year 2024?

    Breakfasts served
    more than 2.5 billion

    The answer: about $5.7 billion. Breakfast reaches about half as many meals as school lunch and costs about a third as much.

    Napkin math
    1. 2.5Bbreakfasts served
    2. ×$2a school breakfast

    ≈$5B

    Source: USDA Economic Research Service, School Breakfast Program

All of puzzle #11 · The archive