hardwhat am-i

Illustration for riddle: If you throw me out the window,
I'll leave a grieving wife.
Bring me back, but through the door,
Yo — Can you figure out this riddle?

If you throw me out the window, I'll leave a grieving wife. Bring me back, but through the door, You'll see someone giving life. What am I?

The letter 'n'. Throw out the letter n from the word window and you have widow. Bring back the word n to door and you have donor.

Why this works

This riddle plays with the transformation of words by adding or removing the letter 'n'. When you take 'n' out of "window," you are left with "widow," which refers to a grieving wife. Conversely, when you add 'n' to "door," it becomes "donor," someone who gives life, often in the context of organ donation. This clever use of wordplay highlights how a single letter can dramatically change meanings and create a playful connection between the concepts of loss and giving.

Common Wrong Answers

“A letter”

While the riddle indeed involves letters, simply guessing 'a letter' does not specify the correct letter that fits the clues provided.

“A window”

This guess misunderstands the riddle; the focus is on the letter 'n' which transforms the words, not on the window itself.

“A word”

Similar to guessing 'a letter', 'a word' is too vague and does not capture the specific transformation of the words that the riddle describes.

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