At first glance, this riddle may seem to have a hidden meaning: “I am in Banana, but not in Apple. In Train, but not in Bus. What am I?” You might start thinking about a person, an animal, or something related to transportation. But the solution is much simpler than it appears—the answer is hidden directly within the words.

Start by looking at BANANA and APPLE. Banana contains the letters B, A, N, A, N, and A, while Apple contains A, P, P, L, and E. The answer must be a letter found in Banana but not in Apple. The letter A is ruled out because it appears in both words, leaving B and N as the possible choices.

Now examine the second clue: TRAIN and BUS. Train contains T, R, A, I, and N, while Bus contains B, U, and S. Since B appears in Bus, it cannot be the answer. The letter N, however, appears in Train and is completely absent from Bus, making it the only letter that fits both clues.

So the answer is the letter N! It appears twice in Banana but not in Apple, and it appears in Train but not in Bus. The riddle is designed to make you search for a complicated connection, when the real solution is simply a matter of comparing the letters carefully. Sometimes, the easiest-looking riddles are the ones that make us overthink the answer.