Price tags · Puzzle #33 · Sunday, November 1

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 eating out: How much did the average US household spend on food away from home, like restaurants and takeout, in 2024?

   

   Measured by

   BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys

   Change from 2023

   Up 0.3%

   The answer: about $3,945. That was up from $3,639 in 2022.

   1. $35a meal out for the household
   2. ×2meals out a week
   3. ×52weeks a year

   ≈$3,640

   The true figure is about $3,945 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). On a napkin, take $35 a meal out for the household, times 2 meals out a week, times 52 weeks a year, and you get about $3,600. It's 1.1 times too low, which as a guess would still have scored 9.7 out of 10. The target is wider than it looks: every guess between $2,000 and $7,900 scores at least 7.0.

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

2. 2. Disney park tickets: How much did Disney take in from theme park tickets in its 2025 fiscal year?

   

   Parks

   Disney World, Disneyland, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai

   Leaves out

   Hotels, food and merchandise

   The answer: about $11.7 billion. Disney says ticket revenue grew 5% that year, mostly from higher average ticket prices.

   1. 10parks
   2. ×10Mvisits each a year
   3. ×$110a ticket

   ≈$11B

   The real answer is about $11.7 billion (The Walt Disney Company). Without looking anything up, take 10 parks, times 10 million visits each a year, times $110 a ticket, and you get about $11 billion. It's 1.1 times too low, which as a guess would still have scored 9.7 out of 10. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $5.9 billion and $23 billion was worth 7.0 or more.

   Source: The Walt Disney Company (SEC Form 10-K), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025

3. 3. The average new car: What was the average transaction price of a new vehicle in the US in August 2026, according to Kelley Blue Book?

   Measured by

   Kelley Blue Book (Cox Automotive)

   Incentives

   Averaged 6.5% of the price

   Change from August 2025

   Up 1.9%

   The answer: about $50,089. The average moved back above $50,000 in August; the average new electric vehicle sold for $54,813.

   1. $600a month in car payments
   2. ×72months on a six-year loan

   ≈$43.2k

   The answer comes to about $50,089 (Cox Automotive / Kelley Blue Book). To reason it out, take $600 a month in car payments, times 72 months on a six-year loan, and you get about $43,000. That comes out 1.2 times too low, and a guess that far off still scores 9.4 out of 10. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $25,000 and $100,000 was worth 7.0 or more.

   Source: Cox Automotive / Kelley Blue Book, August 2026 ATP Report

4. 4. A year of Amtrak tickets: Amtrak carried 34.5 million passenger trips in its 2025 fiscal year. How much did it take in from tickets?

   

   Busiest stretch

   The Northeast Corridor, Washington to Boston

   The answer: about $2.7 billion. It was the first time Amtrak's ticket revenue passed $2.7 billion, and its second record year in a row.

   1. 34.5Mtrips on Amtrak
   2. ×$70a ticket

   ≈$2.42B

   The true figure is about $2.7 billion (Amtrak). To reason it out, take 34.5 million trips on Amtrak, times $70 a ticket, and you get about $2.4 billion. The estimate is 1.1 times too low, close enough to score 9.5 out of 10. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $1.4 billion and $5.4 billion was worth 7.0 or more.

   Source: Amtrak, Amtrak: A Year of Records

All of puzzle #33 · The archive