# Ordered a "special" pizza **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703 "2022-07-10T14:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/21 "2022-07-10T15:07:00Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And now for how to use a pentagram, in case I was not being whooshed: Even if you could explain that, over the phone, to someone, well enough that they could explain it to the person that’s going to cut your pizza, it’s still more difficult. As mentioned earlier, with 8 pieces, it’s just cutting it in half over and over. This method involves eyeballing five equidistant points along the crust and going from there. \* Remember, you only have one shot. If you screw it up, the person either gets a mangled pizza or they have to wait for another one to be cooked. \*And, in fact, IMO, the pentagram makes this harder. You don’t need all that extra work. Once you have the five equidistant points, that’s all you need and the pentagram isn’t going to help you deduce where they should be. Bisecting angles is always going to be easier than this. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/22 "2022-07-10T15:07:14Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And now for how to use a pentagram, in case I was not being whooshed: I don’t think anyone here is having trouble visualizing it. The problem is skepticism: that a minimum-wage pizza slinger even knows what a pentagram is (by name), that they understand the relationship between the pentagram and “10 even slices”, that they can visualize a pentagram (or more to the point, visualize the points of the inner pentagon enough to use them as the second reference point for each cut). And more critically: that they would care enough to remember before going on autopilot and making the customary four cuts. They sure as hell won’t care enough to remake the pizza after that. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/23 "2022-07-10T15:10:54Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Working in a pizza kitchen is not where you’ll find the next Fields Medal winner. What the fuck is wrong with you? Why not? It’s a typical High School job. I worked at a pizza kitchen when I was 17 and ended up getting a graduate degree in engineering at a top university, became a self made multimillionaire and retired at 56 in Santa Barbara. That post stinks of privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/24 "2022-07-10T15:11:13Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That is, they’ll ask for it to be set to ‘number six’ or ‘french press’ neither of which mean anything when we’re looking at [this](https://assets.katomcdn.com/q_auto,f_auto,w_500,dpr_2/products/021/021-221000000/021-221000000_007.jpg). Except that the course grind (common for immersion brewing) has a picture of a french press. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/25 "2022-07-10T15:11:49Z")
I’m playing the odds here. If you’re counting on any meaningful functional familiarity with geometry in this setting, you’re bound to be disappointed.Your exceptional case (other than being apparent stealth bragging) is irrelevant to this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/26 "2022-07-10T15:13:47Z")
As @bobot mentioned: this is why the good Lord invented the “tavern cut.” [![](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/chicagostarmedia.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/20/020f3730-1fb2-11eb-b93e-6f4f32fc43d8/5fa475f1b543d.image.jpg?resize=889%2C500) ](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/chicagostarmedia.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/20/020f3730-1fb2-11eb-b93e-6f4f32fc43d8/5fa475f1b543d.image.jpg?resize=889%2C500) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/27 "2022-07-10T15:18:46Z")
And I went three up: [[Album] Four cuts, 14 pieces ![](https://i.imgur.com/HF8o6IG.jpeg?fb "Four cuts, 14 pieces") ](https://imgur.com/a/yc8StCB) I think I am with **hajario** here. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/28 "2022-07-10T15:23:02Z")
Four cuts, 15 pieces: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Cake_number_with_4_cutting_planes.gif) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Cake_number_with_4_cutting_planes.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/29 "2022-07-10T15:24:33Z")
Beautiful visualization, I couldn’t draw this without the rotation and make it clear. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/30 "2022-07-10T15:27:41Z")
To give credit where credit is due, I did the 2-d diagram by hand, because it’s quick to do, but the 3-d one—well it’s also easy, but I just linked to Wikimedia where somebody already uploaded it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/31 "2022-07-10T15:29:58Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > They shoulda just cut it square style. I bet no one would have even been counting. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As @bobot mentioned: this is why the good Lord invented the “tavern cut.” [NOOOOOOO!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbecue-styles/944974/24) > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > If you cut from every point of the pentagram through every opposite vertex of the pentagon you get ten slices. You don’t have to draw the pentagram, you just have to visualize it. And then you go completely insane from contemplating the insignificance of human existence in a universe populated by indomitable creatures from obtuse dimensions: [![](https://cdn.donmai.us/original/e7/14/ __cthulhu_cthulhu_mythos_drawn_by_hiyokemusi__ e71485160770b02869058ec9a4ac2e8e.jpg) ](https://cdn.donmai.us/original/e7/14/ __cthulhu_cthulhu_mythos_drawn_by_hiyokemusi__ e71485160770b02869058ec9a4ac2e8e.jpg) Was it worth it? Was it really worth it to have a ten-slide pie? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/32 "2022-07-10T15:33:56Z")
Of course it’s worth it. It’s all in a day’s work for ignorance fighters. We can handle this, so can you. ETA: PS: I like your explanation for the name **pi** zza. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/33 "2022-07-10T15:37:50Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That is, they’ll ask for it to be set to ‘number six’ or ‘french press’ neither of which mean anything when we’re looking at [this](https://assets.katomcdn.com/q_auto,f_auto,w_500,dpr_2/products/021/021-221000000/021-221000000_007.jpg) That actually has a picture of a French press next to ‘coarse’, but if you don’t know what one looks like, it’s not a help. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/34 "2022-07-10T15:38:00Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Was it worth it? Was it really worth it to have a ten-slide pie? Among all these discussions of “could we do it”, I guess I’m glad we have someone asking “should we do it”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/35 "2022-07-10T15:39:59Z")
A pentagram may summon a hungry daemon or two, who (unfortunately for you) will probably not be satisfied with a couple of slices of pizza, but due to the flat, essentially Euclidean nature of the pie you will at least avoid getting encysted in the necrotic folds of the womb of Nehilim; worst case, you’re only facing an eternity of unimaginable torment. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/36 "2022-07-10T15:42:21Z")
I came in to suggest you should have given up as soon as the guy on the phone said “no” initially. All you did was convince him to cut it the way he did. Ask for it to be sliced in 16 pieces, order two small pizzas cut in to 6 slices each, do something they will agree to. It’s one thing to ask, maybe they would have said “Sure, we can cut in 10 pieces”, but they didn’t and you shouldn’t expect a good result by talking them into trying. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/37 "2022-07-10T15:44:39Z")
You could order 5 small pizzas. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/38 "2022-07-10T15:46:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There probably isn’t a system in place to deal with special requests at that stage of the process. The person who takes the pizza out of the oven, slices it, and puts it in a box is probably operating on automatic and not even thinking that there might be something different he has to do for this particular pizza. My first job in high school was at a pizza place and my job was to slice the pizza. Yup, I was pretty much on automatic. I was very good at giving customers even slices, but if you suddenly wanted 10 slices on a pizza that should have 8, well, you’re not getting even slices. I worked there for less than six months, so maybe with more experience I would have been able to make better slices on the fly. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/39 "2022-07-10T15:59:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That is, they’ll ask for it to be set to ‘number six’ or ‘french press’ neither of which mean anything when we’re looking at [this](https://assets.katomcdn.com/q_auto,f_auto,w_500,dpr_2/products/021/021-221000000/021-221000000_007.jpg). The coarse setting has a picture of a French press. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703/40 "2022-07-10T16:01:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > picture of a French press. Which would be unhelpful if the coffee vendor didn’t know what a French press looked like. Particularly if the coffee vendor didn’t know what a French press is. Which is evident if the coffee vendor didn’t recognize the phrase “French press” as somehow related to coffee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordered-a-special-pizza/967703.md?page=3)