and the fact that the manhole is round so the cover won't fall through it is lost on them... they didn't want the real answer, they wanted the answer they wanted. and the fact that the manhole is round so the cover won't fall through it is lost on them... they didn't want the real answer, they wanted the answer they wanted. Correct. Which tells you Google isn't any different from any other giant company out there, despite what they'll tell you. They are trying to find something out about your thinking process with a question like that, but it's not about how you solve problems. They want to know if you will stay safely inside the intellectual range of your boss, or will you be a loose cannon.