If someone just pattern matched it I would give them a backup question. The point of these questions isn't seeing if they can solve it, it is seeing how they th

If someone just pattern matched it I would give them a backup question. The point of these questions isn't seeing if they can solve it, it is seeing how they think about problems. I'm also not worried if they make a good solution, or even get a solution at all. But almost all candidates can start making progress, come up with some possible solutions and tell me about those solutions.