In this clever word riddle, "I am a word. I become longer when the third letter is removed." Which word satisfies this condition?

Introduction / Context:
This puzzle is a classic example of a self-referential word riddle. The sentence says, "I am a word. I become longer when the third letter is removed." At first, this sounds impossible, because removing a letter normally makes a word shorter, not longer. The trick lies in the fact that the resulting word is literally the English word "longer," so the length of the word in letters is reduced but its meaning becomes "longer."

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The riddle states: "I am a word. I become longer when the third letter is removed."
• We must find a word such that deleting its third letter produces the word "longer."
• The answer choices include Longer, Lounger, Longing and Belong.
• We assume standard English spelling and indexing letters starting from the first character.

Concept / Approach:
The core idea is to think in terms of letter positions. We want a word W such that when we remove the third letter of W, we get the word "longer." One way to find such a word is to imagine inserting an extra letter into "longer" at the third position to get W. If we insert the letter "u" after the second letter "o" in "longer," we obtain "lounger." Now, "lounger" is itself a valid English word. If we then remove its third letter "u," it becomes "longer," exactly as described in the riddle.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Write the target word "longer" as l-o-n-g-e-r. Step 2: We need a longer word that turns into "longer" when the third letter is removed. Step 3: Try adding one letter inside "longer." If we insert "u" after "o," we get l-o-u-n-g-e-r, which spells "lounger." Step 4: Check that "lounger" is a meaningful English word: it refers to someone who lounges or an item of furniture on which one lounges. Step 5: Now remove the third letter of "lounger," which is "u." The remaining letters spell l-o-n-g-e-r, that is, "longer." Step 6: This matches the riddle exactly: the original word becomes "longer" (in meaning) when its third letter is removed, even though it loses one physical letter.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify that no other option works, test each candidate. If the original word were "longer," removing the third letter "n" would give "loger," which is not a valid English word and does not match the riddle. For "longing," removing the third letter "n" gives "loging," which again is not a standard word. For "belong," removing the third letter "l" gives "beong," which is incorrect. Only "lounger" yields the proper word "longer" when its third letter is removed, so it is the unique correct answer among the choices.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
"Longer" fails because cutting out its third letter does not produce a valid meaningful word. "Longing" and "Belong" also turn into misspelled non-words when their third letters are removed. None of them satisfy the exact condition that the resulting word is "longer." Therefore, they are only distractors meant to confuse learners who do not carefully check the letter positions.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners misinterpret the riddle and think that the word itself physically becomes longer in terms of letter count, which seems impossible after removing a letter. Others guess the word "longer" because they focus only on the last part of the sentence. The trick is to realise that the word becomes "longer" in its meaning, not in its length. A careful, letter by letter check is essential to avoid being fooled by the paradoxical wording.

Final Answer:
The word that becomes "longer" when its third letter is removed is Lounger.