# What starts with an E, ends with an E, but usually contains only one letter?

Source: https://silverapuzzles.com/riddles/what-starts-with-an-e-ends-with-an-e-but-usually-contains-only-one

A letter riddle built on a word with two meanings. The item in question is made of paper and travels through the mail.

**Answer:** An envelope.

An envelope begins and ends with E and holds a single letter.

Hint: You mail it.

## How to think about it

1. Words that start and end with E: eye, eve, else, envelope.
2. The twist is “contains only one letter”. Most words contain several letters, so “letter” must mean a piece of mail.
3. Which of the E-words holds a piece of mail?
4. An envelope usually contains one letter.

## Why “an envelope” is the answer

Envelope begins and ends with E, and an envelope normally carries a single letter in the postal sense. The riddle switches the meaning of “letter” between spelling and mail halfway through, and the word “usually” is there because some envelopes hold a card or a bill instead. Eye and eve fit the spelling but contain nothing.

## Common wrong answers

- **Eye.** Eye begins and ends with E, but it does not contain a letter of any kind.
- **Eve.** Eve matches the spelling, but the mail pun is the real test, and an evening holds no letters.