I missed where the pā "mea ʻai" came in. There was no mention of a plate LUNCH - just a plate. What hint did I miss that would have indicated that the question wasn't about chips on a plate?

These questions involving "plate" are inconsistent. Sometimes the accepted "correct" answer is "pā". But other times I am told that is an error, and that I must use "pā mea ʻai." Why?

Why is pā mea 'ai required for this answer? Extra chips require a plate lunch as an answer whereas chips only require a plate.

My guess is that they are specifying pā mea ʻai for plate because kipi and pā both can mean other things. This is just to be explicit... (??)