But that doesn't make any sense. If I wanted to hire a chef, I'd ask her to cook a few meals for me to sample; if I wanted to hire a photographer, I'd ask to see his portfolio; if I wanted to hire a physicist, I'd ask to read papers she had published. These are all perfectly valid and relevant things to ask in an interview despite the fact that I have no culinary talents, have no photographic portfolio, and have never published a paper in physics.

Except the Pirate Game isn't a work sample -- it's a brain teaser.

And even though brain teasers are now considered passé, for a long time many companies, including quite famously, Google, did ask them (in many cases very proudly) -- just like they continue to ask their modern-day equivalent: "recite a moderately, or in some cases, insanely complex algorithm for me which I just looked up, but I bet you haven't!" -- as an expedient alternative to an actual, realistic work sample.

This isn't a brain teaser; it's a logic problem. Someone who has never seen the problem before should be able to logically work through it to find the solution.

You say logic problem, I say brain teaser. The point is, it's not a work sample.