What has to be broken before you can use it?

How to think about it

1. Normally breaking something ruins it. The riddle wants a case where breaking is the right way to start.
2. Picture foods that come sealed inside a hard shell that you have to open with a crack.
3. Nuts and eggs both qualify. Nuts are usually “cracked” or “shelled”, while an egg is very often described as “broken” into a bowl.
4. The egg is the answer most people give, and it fits every word of the question.

Why “an egg” is the answer

You cannot fry, scramble or bake with an egg until you break its shell, so breaking it is the first step of using it. The riddle leans on the double feeling of the word “broken”: it sounds like damage, but for an egg it is simply how it opens. Nuts would work too, but the egg is the classic version.

Common wrong answers

• A nut. A nut also has to be cracked, so it is a reasonable answer; the traditional one is an egg.
• A piñata. A piñata is broken at the end of the fun, not before you use it.