xkcd.WTF!?

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Omniroll

It seems wrong that Fruit by the Foot is only sold by weight or by number of rolls.

Explanation

Cueball, Megan, and White Hat are making a "Wikipedia Omniroll", a roll made by combining all rolls in the list of rolled foods into one large roll. The Latin prefix "omni-" is a combining form meaning "all" or "universal". Thus, an "Omniroll" would mean an "everything roll". The three are in the process of assembling this roll. The penultimate stage in the preparation till this moment was a "spring roll burrito" which probably means a burrito whose identifying ingredient is a spring roll (as a bean burrito is filled with refried beans), but could also mean a burrito in spring-roll form. The following step was to roll it in breadcrumbs and fry it, possibly as a part of a rissole. Right now, they are wrapping the concoction in a cabbage roll. White Hat asks about the Fruit Roll-Ups layer, to which Megan responds that it goes around the cinnamon roll layer.

On the wall behind them is a picture of a cross-sectional cut through the Omniroll showing each layer. There seem to be 12 labeled layers that are broad enough to be seen in this large picture, but there is also a cutout that zooms into six thin layers, also labeled. If the drawing is to be taken at face value there are 18 different layers, and there should thus have been 18 rolled foods on the Wikipedia list when Randall made the comic; in fact there were 51. (These were: arctic roll, arem-arem, Bánh cuốn, Black sesame roll, Braciolone, Burrito, cabbage roll, California roll, cheese roll, chelsea bun, chiko roll, chimichanga, cinnamon roll, crescent roll(croisant), Dosa(food) , dürüm, Egg roll, Enchilada, Farsu Magru, Fig roll, Fruit by the foot, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gỏi cuốn, Kati roll, Khao phan, Lahmacun, Lemper, Makizushi, Negimaki, Nut roll, Pancetta arrotolata, Patishapta, pepperoni roll, Popiah, Rice noodle roll, Risoles, rolex(food), Rollmops, Roulade, rugelach, Sausage roll, Seattle roll, Sigara böreği, Spiced meat roll, Stromboli, Swiss roll, Taquito and Tofu skin roll.) However, it is possible that the highlighted area is only for the layers they are currently preparing, and other layers are not currently shown.

Although there will be many people who love each of the mentioned rolls, not many would enjoy eating them all at once, as it would mix very different kinds of food which would be prepared very differently. Different layers would also require different treatments to prevent them spoiling, which would be difficult to achieve once they are rolled together.

The title text refers to Fruit by the Foot, a similar snack to Fruit Roll-Up made by the same producers. Although the name implies a per-distance measurement, Fruit by the Foot is in fact sold in boxes based upon number of rolls, with measurements on the packaging given by weight. Randall expresses his dismay at this discrepancy.

The 'omni-' prefix was earlier used in 2653: Omnitaur and 2738: Omniknot. In 2123: Meta Collecting, Cueball used Wikipedia's article "list of collectables" for his hobby.