Patreon Preview #337: Ray Kayca's Cakes, Rakes and K-Cups w/ Rekha Shankar

Summary

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Hey Riddle Riddle – Patreon Preview #337: Ray Kayca's Cakes, Rakes and K-Cups w/ Rekha Shankar

Release Date: August 22, 2025
Featuring: Adal Rifai, Erin Keif, John Patrick Coan, special guest Rekha Shankar

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Episode Overview

This Patreon bonus episode plunges listeners into a workplace improv scenario at “Ray Kayca’s Cakes, Rakes, and K-Cups,” with the cast playing store employees navigating an exceptionally dysfunctional pre-opening shift meeting. The segment, infused with the show’s signature absurdity and quick-witted banter, tackles employee grievances, cake mishaps, stinky workplace rumors, and outlandish business solutions—barely skirting the premise of riddles, as is tradition for this podcast.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Chaotic Shift Meeting

• Situation: The store team gathers ahead of opening. The focus is on issues with the closing shift’s performance—specifically, repeated mishaps involving Ray Jr., the owner’s son.

  • “[Ray Jr.] left the freezer open. And all the ice cream cakes allegedly melted. Allegedly into our drainage system. And now allegedly, it smells like Oreos everywhere.” — (C, 01:08)
  • “Allegedly, the rats that are obviously in our sewage system have been eating all of it. And now they're gigantic.” — (B, 01:34)

• Cake Status: Ice cream cakes are nearly wiped out due to the freezer accident; standard cakes survive but are not big sellers.

• Running “Allegedly” Gag: The team repeatedly uses “allegedly” to dodge direct accusations, lampooning workplace gossip management styles.

2. Name Confusion and Power Dynamics

• Fun with Names: Multiple employees share similar names, causing confusion and a comedic roll call:

  • “‘Beth. Beth.’ ‘Hold on now. I thought your name...I thought your name was Beth.’ ‘I had it legally changed last night.’” — (A & D, 03:18–03:23)
  • Characters embrace this by suggesting that name tags can be swapped at will and legal name changes are casual.

• Promotion Humor: The chain of command is murky. The “regional vice manager” attempts to command authority but receives little respect.

  • “You're the regional manager.”
    “I'm the regional vice manager, okay? Oh, come on.” — (C & A, 08:00–08:02)

3. Stinky Cake Fingers: The Ray Jr. Problem

• Finger Accusations: Ray Jr. is rumored (not so subtly) to be sticking his “sticky, stinky little fingers” into cakes and onto handles, causing product returns due to odor.

  • “Ray Jr. likes to put his little fingers, little stinky fingers in the cakes.” — (B, 02:41)
  • “This part's not alleged. I'm his former babysitter...Those fingers are stinky.” — (C, 05:24 & 05:49)

• Workplace Solutions: As cakes and rakes are both returned for being too smelly, the group agrees (sarcastically) to sanitize “everything,” including cake cups and rake handles.

4. Work Culture & Ghostly Gossip

• Ghost Story Detour: The meeting spirals into a dimly lit pseudo-ghost story about the night shift being fired after confronting Ray Sr. about his son.

  • “Two weeks ago, the entire crew of the night shift came together to Big Ray...with some complaints about Ray Jr. They were all fired.” — (A, 07:22)

• Self-awareness: The meeting often goes off the rails, with characters poking fun at themselves for losing track (“We get a little lost in the sauce”) and using the language of modern memes (“Slay Mama”—04:01), indicating the cast’s improvisational skill.

5. Store Improvement Ideas

• Brainstorming Session: The episode closes with a pitch session—a classic device for more bits:
  • “Some of the music we play inside the store turns people away. Alkaline Trio? No thank you...One Direction? We could be playing more of it.” — (D, 09:36–09:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Overuse of ‘Allegedly’

  • “And allegedly, guys, we only have to say allegedly once.” — A, 01:28

• On Smelly Rake Handles

  • “The part that people expect to be smelly—the rake part—is not the smelly part. The handle is smelly and people are suspecting...” — C, 06:24

• Shifting Blame to Pay Docks

  • “I have to dock your pay if I find out you're eating cookies. I have to do that and I still am.” — (A & B, 08:12)
  • “‘What does Dock mean?’ ‘Means you get more money...like when you add a dock to a port so that more ships can come in and out.’” — D & C, 08:25–08:29

• On the Instability of Store Management

  • “He [Ray Sr.] is so protective of his son, okay? So I just don't think we should engage in any way...” — A, 07:50

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Important Timestamps

• 00:02–01:25: Opening shift meeting, introduction to cake disaster and introduction of the “allegedly” running gag.
• 02:40–03:39: Name confusion antics escalate (the “Beth/Biff” moment).
• 05:24–05:49: Babysitter confirms Ray Jr.’s childhood stinkiness (“Those fingers are stinky”).
• 06:07–06:51: Issues with K-cups and rakes, more returned products due to “smelly handles.”
• 07:22–07:50: Ghost story setup and reveal of the entire night shift being fired.
• 09:36–09:52: Store improvement ideas: critiques and pitches for the music playlist.

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Tone & Style

The entire episode is layered with deadpan, quick-fire improvisation and surreal workplace satire, gently lampooning retail hierarchies and “team spirit” tropes. The banter is both self-aware and intentionally meandering, with the group welcoming tangents and embracing confusion as a feature, not a bug.

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For more hijinks and unfiltered group improv, listeners are encouraged to join the Patreon Clue Crew for full-length bonus content.

Transcript

[A]

All right, everybody, Shift meeting. Shift meeting. Before we open today, thank you all for coming in early. I know it's nobody's favorite thing to open the store.

[B]

Can we talk about how bad of a job the Closers did last night?

[A]

Look, I'd like to not make this a us versus them thing. Grace, if you have something to say.

[B]

About the Closers, then it's borderline disrespectful at this point. They're not doing anything off the checklist, boss.

[A]

You know, and it's possible that they're working on a different checklist than our checklist. So it's like maybe they are doing.

[B]

I think it's because Ray Jr. Is on that shift.

[A]

Okay, let's. Let's get one thing straight. We're not badmouthing anyone and we're not besmirching anyone. Because the one thing that is universal is that Ray Cake is rakes, cakes, and K cups. Someone is always listening, okay?

[C]

And I personally love Ray Junior. Love him to death. Little sweetie pie babysat him when he was a kid.

[B]

Aww.

[C]

Now, if I had to say, which you don't think that, and I don't.

[A]

Then you don't.

[C]

But if I was searching for something to say, I might say something like, he left the freezer open. And all the ice cream cakes allegedly melted. Allegedly into our drainage system. And now allegedly, it smells like Oreos everywhere.

[A]

And allegedly, guys, we only have to say allegedly once.

[D]

Well, it allegedly fucked us cake melting.

[B]

And then allegedly, the rats that are obviously in our sewage system have been eating all of it. And now they're gigantic.

[A]

I wish.

[D]

Getting stronger.

[A]

I wish I had not taught you all that word. That's what I wish Right now. Let's do this. Let's continue with the shift meeting. Beth, you mentioned that the ice cream cakes are melted.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

What's our current cake count for the day? Cause I know we have a lot of cakes to process today. Rake is cakes, Rakes and cake cups.

[C]

So we had 20 ice cream cakes to begin with. I kind of have two halves left based on what melted.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

It's possible I could smear them together and put some sort of design in between. It could be, like, earthquake themed.

[A]

It could be Yin yang.

[C]

Yin yang. It could be argument themed. There's two sides.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Cause right now it says Happy Christmas. Right?

[A]

Does. Okay, well. Okay. Yeah.

[C]

That's just the ice cream cakes.

[A]

That's just the ice cream cakes.

[C]

We have regular cakes that are cold. Those are still. Okay. Ray Jr. Didn't leave that open.

[A]

Great.

[C]

But I do think they're not our big seller. What?

[B]

Someone's little fingers have gotten into the cakes. And allegedly.

[A]

This is a lot of allegedly.

[B]

Ray Jr. Likes to put his little fingers, little stinky fingers in the cakes.

[C]

And I remember, and I can confirm this, is your name also Beth?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay. I can confirm this.

[A]

No way. No.

[B]

It was Abby, right? What did you call me?

[A]

Hold on. I couldn't have busted this.

[D]

I could have sworn it was Beth.

[A]

And Beth, was it not something different than that?

[C]

No, I. I've just been too embarrassed to ask because it feels stupid when you don't know that someone's name is the same as yours.

[B]

We're normally not in the same shift.

[C]

We're not on the same shift. Yeah.

[D]

All right, Ray. Cake is cakes. Rakes and cake cups. Roll call. Biff.

[C]

Beth. Beth.

[A]

Beth. Hold on now. I thought your name. I thought your name was Beth.

[D]

I had it legally changed last night.

[B]

Congratulations.

[A]

Congratulations.

[C]

Oh, my gosh. Slay mama.

[A]

I'll have to change it. Beth. Biff. Biff. Is it Biff or Biff or Biff?

[D]

Biff Bethington.

[A]

Okay, Biff. I'm gonna have to change it in the system, but thank you for doing that because that's gonna be way less confusing now.

[C]

For sure.

[B]

It was nice to be able to grab whatever name tag when I came in, wasn't it?

[A]

Yeah, it was always nice.

[D]

Can I just say, speaking of. What'd you say, miss? Slay. What?

[B]

You say slay.

[C]

Slay Mama.

[D]

Slay Mama. What if we do Christmas themed cakes with Mrs. Claus and it says Slay Mama Spelled the way you think.

[C]

L, E, I, G, H. Yeah.

[D]

Just sounds different.

[A]

I love these ideas. It's nowhere near Christmas right now, so I don't know necessarily why we had a Christmas cake to begin with.

[C]

Here's what I'll say. I think people are thinking about Christmas all year round. I know. For me.

[A]

Is it because we. Everyone at the shop says slay Mama a lot. Because I've been noticing. We've been saying. I mean, bith. You came in with mama, say mama.

[C]

Slay the thing from. Slay the thing from. Please don't stop the music.

[A]

The thing from. Please don't stop the music.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I think. Okay. First of all, we're trying to find Joy where we can find it. Ray Jr. Allegedly has been making this a very. Allegedly.

[A]

It's not with Ray Junior.

[B]

Hostile work environment.

[A]

Ray Junior's not here for the whole morning. He won't be here for the leak.

[B]

He's a leak. Though all the work we do here in the morning gets sort of flushed down the drain.

[C]

I think Beth1 was saying earlier that.

[B]

Ray Jr really sweet. You've been here forever. No problem. You gotta be Beth1. You babysat mama.

[D]

Mama say mama. Slay Mama say sasso.

[B]

We're getting a little lost.

[A]

We get a little lost in the sauce.

[C]

I don't. I don't speak Latin, but I'm assuming.

[B]

That's very kind. Go ahead, Beth one stop.

[C]

But you were saying Ray Junior's getting his sticky little fingers. Stinky little fingers into.

[A]

She said stinky. But let's just not. Let's take all the adjectives out of it completely.

[C]

But I gotta say, this part's not alleged. I'm his former babysitter. And when I tell you, I'd walk into that home.

[A]

Okay?

[C]

And I. The first thing I said. This is confirmed.

[A]

Please don't.

[C]

On the record, I'd say, do you have a dog? And is she sick? And Ray said, I don't have a dog. Why? And then the little kid comes waddling up to me, and I go, holy crap, those fingers are stinky.

[A]

People change from when.

[B]

Stinky like a dog.

[A]

People change from when they're children to when they're adults. And Ray Jr. Is. Is technically allegedly an adult. So, you know, why don't we pivot? Biff, how are we on K cups? We just got a shipment yesterday, so we still should be.

[D]

K cup's good. I'd say about 300. But I'd say one third of the cakes get returned for being too smelly. And I want to say that. No, Ray Jr. Makes about a third of our sales.

[B]

And the rakes are touching all the rakes.

[A]

The rakes are getting returned for being too smelly?

[C]

Yes. Because the part that people expect to be smelly. The rake part is not the smelly part. The handle is smelly and people are suspecting.

[A]

Hold on.

[C]

Someone's touching them.

[A]

Why would you expect the rake part to be smelly?

[C]

Metal.

[B]

Metal.

[D]

Metal on leaf.

[B]

It's raking up stuff. That's.

[A]

Okay, here's what we do. Here's what we do. Why don't we do this? It's usually slow in the mornings. I say let's sanitize everything. We'll wipe down the cake cups, we'll wipe down the handles of the rakes.

[D]

Wipe down the cakes.

[A]

Let's.

[B]

I'll write a strongly worded letter to the afternoon night shift.

[A]

Can I be honest with you guys?

[B]

What?

[A]

Two weeks ago, the entire night shift Ooh, ghost story.

[D]

Everybody lean in. Everybody lean. Let me get a flashlight. Let me get a flashlight.

[C]

I'm going to turn the electricity off. Please.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

The whole building. The cakes are going to melt. That's fine.

[A]

No, it's not fine.

[B]

It's fine.

[A]

It's fine.

[D]

Well, it depends on how good the story is.

[C]

I bet they talk about this in the night shift. They're like. They tell ghost stories and turn on.

[A]

Two weeks ago, the entire crew of the night shift came together to Big Ray. Ray Keika with some complaints about Ray Jr. They were all fired. What?

[D]

Oh, on this? 10 years ago?

[A]

No, it was just. This happened two weeks ago. That's why the night shift is still kind of a mess, is because he let them all go night shift. No, it's not. Ray is so protective of his son, okay? So I just don't think we should engage in any way because.

[B]

But Ray trusts you. Why can't you tell him that his son has stinky fingers?

[A]

He does not trust Beth.

[C]

Of course he does.

[A]

He trusts me a little bit.

[C]

You're the regional manager.

[A]

I'm the regional vice manager, okay? Oh, come on.

[B]

Not with that attitude.

[C]

You're managing my vice of eating too many cookies.

[A]

Beth. No. Are you still eating cookies?

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

We talked about this. I have to dock your pay if I find out you're eating cookies. I have to do that and I still am.

[D]

A little hand raised, Still a little confused. What does Doc mean?

[B]

Means you get more money. He means he's adding money to your pay.

[C]

Yes. Like when you add a dock to a port so that more ships can come in and out.

[D]

Does this tie your boat?

[A]

Is this what your understanding of dock is?

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

I've been using this as more of a cudgel, but that's why I've been.

[B]

Eating the cookies, because I'm trying to afford a down payment on a condo.

[A]

Oh, boy. Okay, here's what we do. Let's just focus on work today, okay? Let's go out there and be the best cakes, rakes and cake up store this side of the, you know, east. Yes. Fifth.

[D]

Last meeting you said to remind you that we want to carve out some time to pitch some ideas to sort of bring in more customers to bring in business.

[A]

I recall that conversation going differently. We do have time, so if you do want to.

[D]

You want me to read the minutes?

[A]

I don't think we should turn off the lights.

[B]

Turn off the lights?

[C]

No, it's turning off the electricity again.

[A]

Every time we shut down the entire store's electricity. It takes a good 40 minutes to get it spooled back up again. So let's not actually. Beth, here's the thing. Beth one, you don't touch the breaker. Beth two, you don't start typing up any letters. Okay, Biff, go ahead and hit us with a. We have time for a couple of your ideas.

[D]

Okay. I think some of the music we play inside the store turns people away.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

Alkaline Trio. No thank you. Right, Me first in the gimme gimmes. Get out of here.

[A]

This is not my experience, but I.

[B]

One Direction. We could be playing more of it.

[A]

Okay, we don't play any One Direction.

[C]

Yeah, that's exactly.

[A]

1, 2, 3, 4. Hate riddle. Riddles. Clue Crew, listen to the rest of the episode now by starting your free 7 day trial at patreon.com heyriddle riddle.