Price tags · Puzzle #25 · Saturday, October 24

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 soda a day: At the US average price of a 12-ounce can of soda in August 2026 (sold in 12-packs), what would a can a day for a year cost?

   The answer: about $220. Soda in 12-packs ran about 60 cents a can all year.

   1. 365cans a year
   2. ×$0.5a can

   ≈$182.5

   The real answer is about $220 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). On a napkin, take 365 cans a year, times $0.5 a can, and you get about $180. The estimate is 1.2 times too low, close enough to score 9.2 out of 10. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $110 and $440 was worth 7.0 or more.

   Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, All soft drinks, 12 pk, 12 oz., cans, per 12 oz. (354.9 ml) in U.S. city average, average price, not seasonally adjusted

2. 2. Planet Fitness: How much did members spend at Planet Fitness gyms, system-wide, in 2025?

   Clubs

   2,896 at the end of 2025

   Counts

   System-wide sales at franchise and company-owned clubs

   The answer: about $5.3 billion. Planet Fitness ended 2025 with about 20.8 million members.

   1. 20Mmembers
   2. ×$15each a month
   3. ×12months a year

   ≈$3.6B

   The answer comes to about $5.3 billion (Planet Fitness, Inc.). Without looking anything up, take 20 million members, times $15 each a month, times 12 months a year, and you get about $3.6 billion. The estimate is 1.5 times too low, close enough to score 8.3 out of 10. Any guess from $2.6 billion to $11 billion scores 7.0 or better, because the game only counts how many times off you are.

   Source: Planet Fitness, Inc. (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), Planet Fitness, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Results

3. 3. The Alaska Purchase: How much did the United States agree to pay Russia for Alaska in 1867, in the dollars of the day?

   

   Bought from

   Russia, 1867

   Negotiated by

   Secretary of State William Seward

   Russian settlers

   Never more than 400

   The answer: $7.2 million. Seward agreed to the $7.2 million price on March 30, 1867, and the Senate approved the treaty on April 9.

   Napkin math: Russia was eager to unload a remote, lightly settled colony, so expect a price in the single-digit millions, less than Louisiana fetched 64 years earlier.

   The answer comes to $7.2 million (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian). With no neat arithmetic to lean on, start with the order of magnitude: this one is in the millions. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $3.6 million and $14 million was worth 7.0 or more.

   Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Purchase of Alaska, 1867

4. 4. A year of housing: How much did the average US household spend on housing, including rent or mortgage, utilities and furnishings, in 2024?

   

   Measured by

   BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys

   Share of household spending

   33.4%

   The answer: about $26,266. Housing rose 3.3% in 2024, the only major category with a statistically significant increase.

   1. $1,800a month for rent or mortgage, utilities and upkeep
   2. ×12months a year

   ≈$21.6k

   The true figure is about $26,266 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Without looking anything up, take $1,800 a month for rent or mortgage, utilities and upkeep, times 12 months a year, and you get about $22,000. That comes out 1.2 times too low, and a guess that far off still scores 9.2 out of 10. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $13,000 and $53,000 was worth 7.0 or more.

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

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