Out of curiosity, have you ever done the rapid fire question game with anyone?

One person quickly asks the other totally random questions, and the person being asked has to respond right away without thinking about their answer. They'll be asked another question immediately afterward to keep them on their toes, and they can't ask for clarification of a question they had been asked. They can only give answers.

It's like the bridge scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when Sir Galahad is asked his favorite color and instantly replies with the answer he had just heard someone else give, thus failing the test since it wasn't his favorite. He answered without thinking.

When my friends would play it they would try to fool each other by slipping embarrassing questions into the mix. If the person being asked didn't catch themselves in time they'd blurt out an answer that they otherwise would not have divulged.

Why I ask if you've played it is because if you have a tendency to overthink questions before being able to respond, maybe if you answer with that first gut instinct before the overthinking can begin than you could avoid some of the difficulties? Like in the example you described of the five presidents, would your immediate gut answer have been to think of the last 5 US presidents but then to ask for clarification to verify the precise details of the questions?

If you haven't played that rapid fire question game I wonder how you would do with it. It could perhaps be something worthwhile trying, just to see if it is possible.