Cryptogram Secret Menu¶
The Cryptogram Secret Menu is a handwritten sheet of cipher symbols that the counter worker at the original Spud Hut keeps in a briefcase locked with two keys and hands to the team as "the menu".
| Type | Item (document, cipher) |
| Aliases | secret menu |
| Creator | The Spud Hut counter worker (see Spud Hut Counter Savant) |
| Holder | The team; the players decide to send it to the NSA |
| Status | Slated to go to the NSA as an unexplained puzzle; never decoded on air |
| First appearance | Appalachia 07 |
Description¶
The menu is a single sheet of paper covered in handwritten cryptic symbols, which Andre describes as "like some Zodiac Killer shit". (Appalachia 07)
Properties¶
The cryptogram stands in for a secret menu at a chain whose ordinary Spud Hut menu already covers nearly every cuisine. Whispered orders appear to belong to the same hidden layer: Eduardo Hooper quietly orders the "special taco taco spud" and says, "If anyone asks, I did not tell you about the secret menu." (Appalachia 07)
History¶
On the team's second visit to the Spud Hut, the Biz orders the taco taco spud and asks whether there is more to the secret menu. The counter worker unlocks his briefcase with two keys, takes out the sheet and hands it over: "That is the menu." Asked about the symbols, he adds, "I designed the cryptogram myself." Zack suggests photographing it for "the crypto boys" back home. When Eddie Jones later asks about the highest-protein item, the counter worker refuses to discuss the secret menu in front of outsiders. (Appalachia 07)
Near the end of the episode the players debate where to send the page. Ezra proposes the state police, while Dante prefers Kurt's old employers, calling it a "Zodiac Killer misdirect" that is more useful to the team than leaving it at the next dead body. Andre notes that the CIA calls the NSA the "Puzzle Palace", and the team agrees to send it there without telling the codebreakers it is a menu. (Appalachia 07)
The episodes never reveal what the cryptogram says.
Trivia¶
- Zack hopes the NSA will crack it "after, like, a thousand hours, only to find out it's a fucking menu". Dante adds that if they work out the word "spud", "the goose is cooked". (Appalachia 07)
- Ezra says "the idea of an actually secret menu is extremely funny to me." (Appalachia 07)