It looks like they're going for a storyline where a code in a crossword gets someone killed.
"Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything."
No.
The device of communicating via crosswords is not original to Rubicon.
It's a take back to the famous Operation Overlord crosswords, where crossword compiler Leonard Dawe seemingly unknowing included several real code words for the D-Day invasion into his Daily Telegraph crosswords.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Dawe
So, the plot with codes being forwarded through crosswords have been a part of the cultural background static since at least world war two.
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/Crossword.htm
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