Yeah. You would have had to triangulate your way around to getting the information that is exactly the information that you knew already that it was.

"Sir, I need you to go to the oil that you used and check if it is non-hydrogenated or hydrogenated. It should be printed on the back of the label."

"What do you mean, I never had this problem before"

"Yes, I'm aware, they have changed the oil constitution recently. I'll be able to resolve this problem for you, I just need to know if the oil is hydrogenated or not."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything"

"Can you just check the back of the bottle, please? Then I'm sure we'll be able to get your recipe working again"

"Okay, well I didn't actually use oil, I used toothpaste because it was expired and I wanted to get rid of it"

"Aha! Okay, I understand sir. I'm glad we were able to get to the bottom of the issue you're having. So, if you make the recipe with toothpaste, it definitely won't taste the same or have a good consistency. I think if you switch back to using oil you'll find that the pancakes still taste the same as they used to"

"But I think I should be able to use toothpaste."

"Absolutely. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"