"you're not thinking about the problem at hand." But OP said he ended up somewhere sensible. He -was- thinking about the problem at hand. As he spoke. He got t

"you're not thinking about the problem at hand." But OP said he ended up somewhere sensible. He -was- thinking about the problem at hand. As he spoke. He got there in a roundabout fashion, perhaps, and had to think quickly, but it's still -valid-. He's not just bullshitting the interviewer (which is very noticeable and easy to suss out, and never ends anywhere sensible).