This riddle asks: What is cut on a table but is never eaten? The wording makes you picture food being sliced, but the answer comes from a completely different kind of table activity.
The answer is: a deck of cards.
Before or during many card games, a deck can be “cut” by splitting it into sections and rearranging them. That often happens right on the table. Nothing is being prepared for a meal, even though the word “cut” usually makes us think of food.
The trick is recognizing that “cut” has several meanings. In this case, it refers to cutting a deck of cards rather than cutting something with a knife.
Once you make that switch in meaning, the answer fits perfectly.
