Price tags · Puzzle #37 · Thursday, November 5
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. Real Christmas trees: How much did Americans spend on real Christmas trees in 2023, going by the National Christmas Tree Association's survey?
- Households buying a real tree
- about 1 in 6
The answer: about $1.6 billion. Buyers reported paying a median of $75 for a real tree.
Napkin math - 130Mhouseholds in the US
- ÷6households for every one that buys a real tree
- ×$80for a tree
≈$1.73B
The true figure is about $1.6 billion (National Christmas Tree Association). On a napkin, take 130 million households in the US, divided by 6 households for every one that buys a real tree, times $80 for a tree, and you get about $1.7 billion. That comes out 1.1 times too high, and a guess that far off still scores 9.7 out of 10. The target is wider than it looks: every guess between $810 million and $3.2 billion scores at least 7.0.
2. Holiday shopping online: How much did Americans spend online during the 2025 holiday season, November 1 to December 31?
Photo: The Library of Congress, No restrictions - Biggest day
- Cyber Monday
- Counts
- Online spending at US retail websites
The answer: about $257.8 billion. Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day of the year, at $14.25 billion, says Adobe.
Napkin math - 330Mpeople in the US
- ×$800each spent online
≈$264B
The true figure is about $257.8 billion (Adobe). To reason it out, take 330 million people in the US, times $800 each spent online, and you get about $260 billion. That lands all but on the answer, worth 9.9 out of 10 as a guess. The target is wider than it looks: every guess between $130 billion and $520 billion scores at least 7.0.
3. Mother's Day: How much were Americans expected to spend on Mother's Day in total in 2026, according to the National Retail Federation?
Photo: Basher Eyre, CC BY-SA 2.0 - Planning to celebrate
- 84% of US adults
- Biggest category
- Jewelry
The answer: about $38 billion. It topped 2025's $34.1 billion and the previous record of $35.7 billion, set in 2023.
Napkin math - 200Madults who celebrate (most of us)
- ×$150each on gifts and outings
≈$30B
The answer comes to about $38 billion (National Retail Federation). Without looking anything up, take 200 million adults who celebrate (most of us), times $150 each on gifts and outings, and you get about $30 billion. That comes out 1.3 times too low, and a guess that far off still scores 9.0 out of 10. Because only the ratio counts, anything between $19 billion and $76 billion was worth 7.0 or more.
Source: National Retail Federation, Mother’s Day Spending Expected to Hit Record $38 Billion
4. A month of Netflix: How much did Netflix take in during an average month of 2025?
- Members
- Over 325 million paid memberships at the end of 2025
The answer: about $3.8 billion. Netflix's 2025 revenue was up 16% on the year before, and its ad revenue rose more than 2.5 times to over $1.5 billion.
Napkin math - 300Mmembers worldwide
- ×$12each a month
≈$3.6B
The answer comes to about $3.8 billion (Netflix). On a napkin, take 300 million members worldwide, times $12 each a month, and you get about $3.6 billion. That lands all but on the answer, worth 9.8 out of 10 as a guess. The target is wider than it looks: every guess between $1.9 billion and $7.5 billion scores at least 7.0.
