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Some time ago I visited my old friend, Alexander, who lives in Puzzlevania, where everything is a puzzle. We went to a cafe to talk a bit. To check how well we know each other I ordered for Alexander and he ordered for me. We were provided with menus, but the prices were out of this world:

Coffees:    
1. Cappuccino   6.20
2. Espresso     7.40
3. Latte        2.48
4. Macchiato    6.90

Flavoured Coffees:  
1. Banana      14.86
2. Chilli       2.30
3. Chocolate    3.21
4. Orange       9.87
5. Raspberry    4.56

Pies:  
1. Apple        1.23
2. Banana       5.41
3. Peach       15.30
4. Strawberry  34.56

Nevertheless I knew Al loves bananas and strawberries so I chose banana-flavoured coffee and a strawberry pie for him. We kept our orders secret (written on paper passed to the waitress) until they were served.

Then the waitress came back to our table with a trolley full of food including caffe latte, cappucino, espresso, apple pie, orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, banana pie, chilli-flavoured coffee, orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, chocolate-falvoured coffee, espresso, apple pie, banana-flavoured coffee, strawberry pie, espresso, peach pie, macchiato for me and banana-flavoured coffee and a strawberry pie for Alexander.

She drew out an old fashioned calculator and spelled doom on Al's wallet. Then she said:
'Your friend was very kind to you. Why didn't you do the same for him, mr. Oleslaw?' and she turned away.

I felt bad that I ordered only so little for Alexander. I knew that I should have ordered at least two more things.

Do you know which ones?

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  • $\begingroup$ Are espresso and apple pie repeated on purpose? $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Mar 27, 2017 at 8:54
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot This is not a mistake. $\endgroup$
    – oleslaw
    Mar 27, 2017 at 8:56
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    $\begingroup$ the prices were out of this world - if you know so little about Puzzlevanian etiquette, how do you know what a reasonable price is? $\endgroup$
    – boboquack
    Mar 27, 2017 at 8:56
  • $\begingroup$ @boboquack The prices were not reasonable for me, but I knew that in Puzzlevania this would be faux pas if I questioned them. $\endgroup$
    – oleslaw
    Mar 27, 2017 at 8:58

1 Answer 1

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The prices

need to be interpreted as specifying paths on the keyboard of that "old-fashioned calculator". Pairs of digits that don't share a row, column or diagonal on the keyboard make a break in the path. Zeros are ignored. Separation between symbols appears not to be explicitly marked.

caffe latte, cappucino,

7 8 9 / \ 4 5 6 \ / 1 2 3

espresso, apple pie,

7 8 9 | 4 5 6 | 1-2-3

orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, banana pie, chilli-flavoured coffee,

7-8-9 | 4-5-6 | 1-2-3

orange-flavoured coffee, raspberry-flavoured coffee, chocolate-falvoured coffee,

7-8-9 | 4-5-6 | 1-2-3

espresso, apple pie,

7 8 9 | 4 5 6 | 1-2-3

banana-flavoured coffee, strawberry pie,

7 8 9 / \ 4-5-6 | | 1 2 3

espresso, peach pie, macchiato

7 8 9 | | 4 5 6 |/ \| 1 2 3

Our narrator should have added, perhaps,

an espresso followed by an apple pie

so that in addition to the original

7 8 9 / \ 4-5-6 | | 1 2 3

he could add

7 8 9 | 4 5 6 | 1-2-3

thus saying

AL.

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  • $\begingroup$ I have nothing to add. Exactly what I expected. Congratulations. $\endgroup$
    – oleslaw
    Mar 30, 2017 at 8:20

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