Ah, makes sense.

I just abandoned the code interview altogether and ask them questions about process. It's a very simple workaround, but very effective. I'll admit it helps that there are very few problems these days outside of specific problems to solve that require a high degree of technical competency to tackle.

For the more senior candidates that I interview, I've seen people who talk a great game but cannot deliver, and others who can. Having them write fizzbuzz-type code is a primitive check that has led to surprising results - 25 year industry veterans with all kinds of great projects delivered, and...they can't write a for loop? They can't declare a variable? They don't know what final/const really does? I hate asking them to do it but I can't really stop.