It sounds like the trouble is that people are putting a lot of effort into trying to come up with a detailed lie that will flatter the professor's expectations,

It sounds like the trouble is that people are putting a lot of effort into trying to come up with a detailed lie that will flatter the professor's expectations, when (as I read the OP) the professor has no expectations and actually wants the simple truth. So everybody loses. Maybe teachers need to start putting a "there are no wrong answers" disclaimer on these things.