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Best Guess · Puzzle #3 · Friday, October 2

Best Guess: 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 Best Guess.

  1. 1. How many Costco warehouses were operating in the US and Puerto Rico at the end of August 2025?

    The answer: 629. Costco had 914 warehouses worldwide, so about two-thirds are in the US and Puerto Rico.

    Napkin math
    1. 330Mpeople in the US
    2. ÷500kpeople to a Costco

    ≈660warehouses

    Source: Costco Wholesale Corporation (SEC Form 10-K), Costco Wholesale Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year ended August 31, 2025

  2. 2. How many Peeps marshmallow candies does Just Born make in a year?

    The answer: about 2 billion. The factory turns out about 5.5 million Peeps a day, and a chick that took 27 hours to make in 1953 now takes 6 minutes.

    Napkin math
    1. 330Mpeople in the US
    2. ×5Peeps each a year (one pack)

    ≈1.65BPeeps

    Source: Just Born, Fun Facts

  3. 3. How many hours a year does the average American (age 15 and up) spend on housework?

    The answer: about 204 hours. Housework here means cleaning and laundry; cooking and cleanup, lawn care and shopping are counted separately.

    Napkin math
    1. 4hours a week
    2. ×52weeks a year

    ≈208hours

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey, Table 1: Time spent in primary activities, 2025 annual averages

  4. 4. How many visits to doctors' offices do Americans make in a year?

    The answer: about 1 billion. About half of those visits were to primary care physicians.

    Napkin math
    1. 330Mpeople in the US
    2. ×3visits each a year

    ≈990Mvisits

    Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, FastStats: Ambulatory Care Use and Physician Office Visits

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