This classic riddle asks: A butcher is 6 feet tall and wears size 11 shoes. What does he weigh? The height and shoe size are there to distract you into thinking the answer should be a number.
The answer is: meat.
A butcher’s job involves preparing and selling meat, and one of the things a butcher commonly does is weigh meat for customers. The riddle never actually asks how much the butcher himself weighs. It asks what he weighs.
That small wording difference is the entire trick. If you focused on the butcher’s height and shoe size, you were being led away from the real clue. The best answer is simply the product he handles every day: meat.
