Writer Sage Boggs thought he discovered why Triscuit is called Triscuit. But the cracker brand has a confusing and mysterious relationship with its own name.

A rough version of this story originally ran on our bonus podcast, Overunderstood. This updated version contains some new information and reporting.

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Have a mystery? Email [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 212-994-4882‬.

Show notes:

• Sage’s viral tweet (Twitter)
• John’s original tweet to Triscuit (Twitter)
• Some old Triscuit advertisements (Twitter)
• Triscuit’s response to Sage (Twitter)
• Triscuit tweets about three ingredients (Twitter)
• “Filamentous cracker” patent (PDF)
• “Continuous heating and baking machine” patent
• Snopes article on this matter (Snopes)
• Charles Louis Richter questions the answer (Twitter)