The best strategy in that situation would be to use what you do know.
the interviewer wants to hear a specific answer how you worked on a team effectively. refer to a previous situation and give a STAR example. Situation, Task, Action and Result. this is the best way to show exactly HOW you solved a problem.
Optimisation, in mathematics, as well as in other fields, is to make the "best of". Given a situation, it is often maximising a positive aspect (for example profits), or minimising a negative aspect (for example, costs) subject to a set of constraints (for example, the number of machines). There are also situations where the best solution is very difficult to find (the knapsack problem) but some procedures can guide you towards the best.
obtuse
Probably not. He or she may be the best speller in class. Calling them the best speller in the world would be an example of hyperbole.