Remember, the stated purpose of the question was to filter non-programmers from programmers. If the real purpose is to evaluate a candidate’s proficiency at eliciting hidden requirements, I suggest that there are much better problems to pose.
For example, a design problem that is closer to the actual company’s domain.
Like, say...how to design a monopoly implementation? :) http://weblog.raganwald.com/2006/06/my-favourite-interview-q...
For instance, if situations like this one happen often in the organisation, then that might be a negative symbol for the job as it indicates a lack of rigour in gathering and specifying requirements. An interview question like this could prove to be telling, and have a negative impact on hiring.
Likewise if the interview is unfocused and rambling, or the interviewer is looking for a particular answer (not just a working answer), or the interviewer just talks about themselves, etc.
These are all hypotheticals, of course: it's up to the interviewee to determine how likely these are for a particular organisation. It's useful to keep in mind when interviewing, though.
- Requirements analysts are making complete sense but it's making you realize how much work is ahead of you, so naturally you hate them outright
- Scrum masters are quietly reciting the differences between waterfall and agile while rubbing a golden chalice
- ETC is an actual department in your organization but no one knows what exactly they do