HugSQL is very handy - used it for my solution also.
Coming from Django Rest Framework I felt at home with Compojure-API.
Hearing "you are overqualified" is awful.
Not being a Clojure dev I'm curious: Wouldn't a database be the more scalable solution? How would multiple servers share access to the data of it's in memory? What about persistence?
It was an 'exercise' for evaluation purpose. In the instructions I was told that a database was not necessary (I'm assuming the interviewer didn't want to have to setup a DBMS just to evaluate my solution).
The obvious solution to me in this case was not to eschew the use of a database. Since Clojure runs on the JVM, there are many 'embeddable' databases one can use (H2, Derby, et al) that do not place a burden on the person running your program. Hacking together a poor implementation of an in-memory database myself seemed silly.
Indeed, a major use of embedded databases like H2 and Derby is in prototyping - with the intent of moving to a 'real' database in production.
During the code review, the interviewer seemed surprised that I used a database, but didn't seem to have much of a problem with it ("you're the only one I've seen do it that way"). In any event, the 'code review' consisted of him saying "Well, um.... I can't really find anything wrong with this, you're definitely a good Clojure developer"
And then they passed on me anyway. I wonder if they ever filled the position?
P.S., not the first time something like this has happened to me, I've had nearly the exact same experience when I applied for a Golang job.
P.P.S., Also I've got the "Pass. We think you'd be bored here." Which is aggravating. It seems I can only find employment at places with nearly non-existent tech screening that under-utilize me and don't care if I'm bored out of my skull.