Going up the down stairs

1) Having messed up so bad that one has done the exact opposite thing one was trying to do
2) Having accidentally lost progress instead of gained
3) Trying to use the down escalator to go up

“The calming medicine has only made the ape more angry!” hollered the scientist. “We’ve gone up the down stairs!”

The men walked out of the maze entrance, frustrated that all the paths they took had only led them up the down stairs, as it were.

Alice wasn’t very bright at times, seeing as there was many an occasion where she was going up the down stairs at the mall.