The problem is, talented people (some of them, not all of them) are not interested in ridiculous problems like this. It comes off as making the applicant jump

The problem is, talented people (some of them, not all of them) are not interested in ridiculous problems like this. It comes off as making the applicant jump through a hoop and watching them squirm for your own amusement, rather than as anything productive. No-one's interested in golf balls on buses, because filling buses with golf balls is a waste of time. Talking about it seems a waste of time. And the question is stupid. Buses are different sizes and of different designs, you know. We have double-decker buses in the UK. If you must use this class of problem, at least make it more related to your field or narrow down the kind of bus and what furniture is on it. And explain to the applicant why you would ask a question like this. "We want to see how you think" isn't an adequate explanation.