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Price tags · Puzzle #4 · Saturday, October 3

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 owning a new car: What did AAA calculate as the average annual cost to own and operate a new vehicle in the US in 2026?

    Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0
    Measured by
    AAA's Your Driving Costs study
    Biggest single cost
    Depreciation, about $4,422 a year
    Average sticker price used
    $39,376

    The answer: about $12,863. That works out to $1,071.92 a month, pushed up by fuel prices, depreciation and finance charges.

    Napkin math
    1. $40kfor a new car
    2. ÷5years to use up most of its value
    3. +$4,000a year for gas and insurance

    ≈$12k

    Source: AAA, AAA: New Vehicle Ownership Costs Hit $12,863 Annually

  2. 2. A day of Domino's: How much did Domino's stores around the world sell on an average day in 2025?

    Photo: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0
    Stores
    More than 22,100 in over 90 markets
    Counts
    Retail sales at company-owned and franchise stores

    The answer: about $55 million. Domino's says more than 85% of its US retail sales in 2025 came through digital channels.

    Napkin math
    1. 20kstores worldwide
    2. ×100orders each a day
    3. ×$25an order

    ≈$50M

    Source: Domino's Pizza, Inc. (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), Domino's Pizza Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2025 Financial Results

  3. 3. Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card: What did Logan Paul's PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card sell for, including buyer's premium, at Goldin in February 2026?

    What
    A Pikachu Illustrator card, issued as a 1998 contest prize
    Rarity
    About 40 are known, and this is the only one graded a perfect 10 by PSA
    Sold
    Goldin, February 2026

    The answer: $16.49 million. Logan Paul had bought it in a $5.3 million deal in 2021, and Guinness World Records declared it the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.

    Napkin math: Top baseball cards have topped $10 million; the single perfect copy of the rarest Pokémon card, sold by a famous YouTuber, could go higher.

    Source: BBC News, Logan Paul's Pokémon card smashes record in $16m sale

  4. 4. An Olympic pool of milk: At the US average store price of whole milk in August 2026, what would it cost to fill an Olympic swimming pool with milk?

    Photo: Cabrils, CC BY-SA 4.0
    Pool
    50 by 25 meters, 2 meters deep
    Holds
    about 660,000 gallons

    The answer is hidden while this question is still in play: it comes round again within 14 days.

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