[fineman]

> a smarter move [...]

The goal is getting the job, or being a smart ass?

As an interviewer, I'll put this one to bed. Pick up the white-board marker and start writing.

The intern can look up libraries; I want to see if you can understand what we'd be looking for in those libraries. If you can't implement and discuss a simple version of it, odds are that you cannot.

If during this process you talk about how you'd be starting a build/buy research cycle at certain points and what that'd look like, as we spec out the problem and build a prototype, that wouldn't be misplaced.