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Price tags · Puzzle #12 · Sunday, October 11

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 year of entertainment: How much did the average US household spend on entertainment, from tickets and streaming to toys, hobbies and pets, in 2024?

    Measured by
    BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys
    Share of household spending
    4.6%

    The answer: about $3,609. That dipped 0.7% from 2023.

    Napkin math
    1. $250a month
    2. ×12months a year

    ≈$3,000

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures--2024 (Table A, 2022, 2023 and 2024 columns)

  2. 2. A day at Best Buy: How much did Best Buy sell on an average day in its fiscal year ending January 2026?

    Stores
    About 1,100 in the US and Canada
    Counts
    Stores and online

    The answer: about $115 million. Best Buy's yearly revenue barely moved: $41.7 billion, against $41.5 billion the year before.

    Napkin math
    1. 1,100stores in the US and Canada
    2. ×500shoppers a store each day
    3. ×$150a purchase

    ≈$82.5M

    Source: Best Buy Co., Inc. (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99), Best Buy Reports Fourth Quarter Results

  3. 3. Apple-I computer: What did an original working Apple-I computer sell for at an auction in Boston in September 2018?

    Photo: Rama & Musée Bolo, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
    What
    A working Apple-I, the first product Apple made, designed by Steve Wozniak in 1976
    Rarity
    About 200 were sold; a registry lists 79 still around
    Sold
    Auction in Boston, Massachusetts, 2018

    The answer: $375,000. The buyer was an anonymous businessman who bid online.

    Napkin math: Fewer than 100 survive and it launched one of the world's biggest companies; working examples are a museum piece, so think hundreds of thousands.

    Source: BBC News, Original working Apple-I computer fetches $375,000 at auction

  4. 4. A letter to every home: At the July 2026 price of a First-Class stamp, what would it cost to mail one letter to every home address in the US?

    Letter
    1 ounce, with one stamp

    The answer: about $129 million. The Postal Service delivered to 157.8 million homes in 2025, plus 12.6 million business addresses.

    Napkin math
    1. 330Mpeople in the US
    2. ÷2.5people to a home
    3. ×$0.8a stamp

    ≈$106M

    Source: US Postal Service, Postal Facts: Size and Scope

All of puzzle #12 · The archive