Wordplay riddle: "What is a word made up of 4 letters, yet is also made up of 3. Everything is written with 9 letters, and then with 4. Rarely consists of 6, and never is written with 5." What is this riddle really describing?

Introduction / Context:
This famous riddle looks mysterious because it appears to discuss some strange magical word that changes length. In reality, it is a clever meta puzzle about language itself. Each phrase in the riddle is not giving information about a hidden secret word; instead, it is describing the number of letters in some specific words within the sentence. Understanding this puzzle teaches you to notice self referential patterns and to read more carefully when something seems impossible at first glance.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The riddle states: What is a word made up of 4 letters, yet is also made up of 3.
• It continues: Everything is written with 9 letters, and then with 4.
• It further adds: Rarely consists of 6, and never is written with 5.
• The question asks what this is actually describing.

Concept / Approach:
The key idea is to notice that some words in the riddle itself have those exact numbers of letters. The word what has 4 letters. The word yet has 3 letters. The word everything has 9 letters. The word then has 4 letters. The word rarely has 6 letters. The word never has 5 letters. So the riddle is not about a single magical object with changing size. It is simply listing facts about the number of letters used to write particular English words.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Look at the phrase a word made up of 4 letters. The first word of the riddle, what, is a word and it has 4 letters. Step 2: Next the riddle says yet is also made up of 3. The word yet appears and indeed it has 3 letters. Step 3: The sentence continues with Everything is written with 9 letters. The word everything has exactly 9 letters. Step 4: The phrase and then with 4 refers to the word then, which is made of 4 letters. Step 5: Rarely consists of 6 describes the word rarely, which has 6 letters. Step 6: Finally, never is written with 5 tells you that the word never contains 5 letters. Step 7: Put together, each statement is simply telling you how many letters are in specific words of the sentence, not describing an external object.

Verification / Alternative check:
Test the other options. The days of the week, the months of the year or the alphabet do not behave in a way that matches all these patterns simultaneously. For example, the alphabet has 26 letters, not 4, 3, 9, 4, 6 and 5 in a meaningful sequence. The only consistent interpretation is the letter count of individual words. Once you recognise this, you can reread the riddle as a playful list of true statements about its own vocabulary, making the puzzle self describing.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The English alphabet: It has a fixed length and is not described piece by piece with those numbers.
The days of the week: Their names and counts do not fit the pattern given in the riddle.
The months of the year: Again, there is no direct mapping to 4, 3, 9, 4, 6 and 5 in the way shown.
None of these: This is incorrect because one of the options clearly captures the idea of letter counts.

Common Pitfalls:
Many readers initially try to treat the riddle as a normal question about some object or concept, which makes the statements seem impossible or contradictory. Another common mistake is to think that the same word somehow changes length, which would violate basic spelling rules. The trick is to slow down and examine the words of the riddle itself, counting their letters. Once you do that, the answer becomes obvious and you see that the puzzle is really about the structure of the sentence. This exercise reinforces careful reading and attention to detail.

Final Answer:
The riddle is describing the number of letters in each of certain words in the sentence itself.