What begins with T, ends with T, and can have tea inside?
This riddle works with English spelling and sound: TEAPOT starts and ends with the letter T, and "tea" sounds like the letter T.
Hint 1
You might see me at a tea party.
Hint 2 (more help)
I have a spout and a handle, and you pour from me.
Reveal the answer
A teapot.
TEAPOT begins with the letter T and ends with the letter T, and it holds tea inside. Bonus: the word "tea" sounds just like the letter T, so a teapot has T inside in two ways!
Which letter appears once in MINUTE, twice in MOMENT, and not at all in HOUR?
This riddle works with English spelling: it counts the letters in the words MINUTE, MOMENT and HOUR.
Hint 1
Write the three words in capital letters and compare them.
Hint 2 (more help)
Only one letter shows up twice in MOMENT.
Reveal the answer
M.
MINUTE has one M, MOMENT has two M's, and HOUR has none. No other letter fits all three clues.
Which five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to the end of it?
This riddle plays with English words: SHORT plus the ending -ER spells SHORTER.
Hint 1
Adding letters makes a word longer to write, so the trick is in what the new word means.
Hint 2 (more help)
Many describing words grow by two letters when you compare things: tall, taller; fast, faster.
Reveal the answer
SHORT. Add E and R to the end, and it becomes SHORTER.
Adding letters always makes a word longer to write. But add E and R to SHORT, and you get SHORTER, a word that means "less long." The word gets longer while its meaning gets shorter!
Forward I name a unit of weight; backward I spell NOT. What word am I?
This riddle works with English spelling: NOT read from right to left spells TON.
Hint 1
The word you want has only three letters.
Hint 2 (more help)
Start with the last letter of NOT and read toward the first.
Reveal the answer
TON.
NOT spelled backward is T-O-N: TON. A ton is a big unit of weight. In the United States, a ton is 2,000 pounds.
I am a four-letter body part. Remove my first letter and I become ONE. What am I?
This riddle works with English spelling: BONE without its first letter spells ONE.
Hint 1
You have more than 200 of me inside your body.
Hint 2 (more help)
Your skeleton is made of me.
Reveal the answer
BONE.
Take the B off BONE, and the letters left spell ONE. Bones are the hard parts inside your body; a grown-up has 206 of them.
Which letter can you remove from TRAIN to make something that falls from clouds?
This riddle works with English spelling: TRAIN without its T spells RAIN.
Hint 1
Cover one letter of TRAIN at a time with your finger and read what is left.
Hint 2 (more help)
What falls from clouds and makes puddles?
Reveal the answer
T, leaving RAIN.
Take the T away from the front of TRAIN, and you are left with RAIN, which falls from clouds.
Which five-letter word keeps the same pronunciation after you remove its last four letters?
This riddle works with English spelling and sound: QUEUE is pronounced exactly like the name of the letter Q.
Hint 1
The word means a line of people waiting their turn.
Hint 2 (more help)
It starts with Q, and the four letters after the Q are all vowels.
Reveal the answer
QUEUE. Take away its last four letters, and the Q left behind sounds the same.
A QUEUE is a line of people or things waiting their turn. It is said "kyoo," just like the name of the letter Q. Remove U, E, U and E, and the Q left behind still sounds exactly the same.
I name an odd number. Remove my first letter and the remaining word is EVEN. What am I?
This riddle works with English spelling: SEVEN without its first letter spells EVEN.
Hint 1
I am a number less than ten.
Hint 2 (more help)
Spell each odd number below ten and look for EVEN hiding inside.
Reveal the answer
SEVEN.
Seven is an odd number. Take away its S, and the letters left spell EVEN. So the word is odd and even at the same time!
Which letter appears once in YEAR, twice in WEEK, and not at all in DAY?
This riddle works with English spelling: it counts the letters in the words YEAR, WEEK and DAY.
Hint 1
Look closely at the letters of each word, one word at a time.
Hint 2 (more help)
Only one letter shows up twice in WEEK.
Reveal the answer
E.
YEAR has one E, WEEK has two E's, and DAY has none. No other letter fits all three clues.