>they could easily extend an offer to #2 And #2 could easily have already accepted elsewhere. Or otherwise no longer be interested. Hiring is HARD. And doing

>they could easily extend an offer to #2 And #2 could easily have already accepted elsewhere. Or otherwise no longer be interested. Hiring is HARD. And doing it not poorly is often the biggest hope: hiring well is exceptionally difficult - a couple hours of forced interaction in a manner that will never happen again is a pisspoor way of doing it.