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What property do the following English letters share that other letters do not: A, C, D, E, Q, S, W, Y

Hint:

The property relates to special words that begin with these letters but not with other letters.

Another hint:

Think about words for clarifying a letter, such as "A as in Alpha," "B as in Bravo," "C as in Charlie," and so on.

Yet another hint:

The first example is "A as in Are"

David G. Stork
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David G. Stork
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2 Answers2

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They form words that sound like other letters of the alphabet.

Are sounds like R, but starts with A.

Cue sounds like Q, but starts with C.

Sea sounds like C, but starts with S.

Eye sounds like I, but starts with E.

Que sounds like K, but starts with Q.

Why sounds like Y, but starts with W.

You sounds like U, but starts with Y.

Double Yew sounds like W, but starts with a D.
Odd that that's the one that's not 3 letters.

Basically, If you told someone "A as in Are" it would just make them very confused. So these are words that you kinda have to see written down or have spelled out to understand.

Kingrames
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  • Isn't "B" pronounced "Bee"? –  Aug 21 '15 at 14:16
  • Maybe the puzzle creator forgot that one. Wait, I actually covered this. It has to be a DIFFERENT letter of the alphabet. – Kingrames Aug 21 '15 at 14:16
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    K is probably 'cay', not 'que', if we're sticking with English. – Bailey M Aug 21 '15 at 14:19
  • Other way around. We already have an example for C, needed a word that started with Q. – Kingrames Aug 21 '15 at 14:20
  • Also, "que" is not a word. "Queue" is one, though. –  Aug 21 '15 at 14:21
  • Then use 'queue' and 'cay'! :D – Bailey M Aug 21 '15 at 14:23
  • But sounds like the letter that it is. That fails the criteria the same way B for "Bee" does. I clarified the sentences to make the relationship more obvious. – Kingrames Aug 21 '15 at 14:23
  • Ahh, you're right about that - I forgot that qualification. STILL, 'que' isn't a word. – Bailey M Aug 21 '15 at 14:26
  • It is in both Spanish and Texan. :P Technically, the puzzle is only asking for English letters, not English words. That is rather deceptive though, if that's the case. – Kingrames Aug 21 '15 at 14:29
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    Finding these is fun :-) Ass sounds like S, but starts with A. Age sounds like H but also starts with A. And "an" for N. Ex sounds like X, but starts with E. – The Vee Aug 21 '15 at 14:30
  • Oh, and for anyone who's confused, "Que" is Spanish for "that" or "who" when it is spelled without an accent above the e. – Kingrames Aug 21 '15 at 18:49
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My list was:

  1. A as in Are (R)
  2. C as in Cue (Q)
  3. D as in Double-U (W)
  4. E as in Eye (I)
  5. Q as in Quai (K)
  6. S as in See (C)
  7. W as in Why (Y)
  8. Y as in You (U)

Runemoro's suggestion of B as in Bee does not work, as the target word has to sound the same as a DIFFERENT LETTER.

You can make these in different languages too, but I didn't think I could assume answerers knew German, French, or indeed several other languages.

David G. Stork
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