I agree with some of the sub-optimal design choices you've mentioned, but I think the Crawl team has shown itself willing to be quite able to change the game to

I agree with some of the sub-optimal design choices you've mentioned, but I think the Crawl team has shown itself willing to be quite able to change the game to reduce tedium, even sometimes when a lot of players express reservations. For example, in terms of game length, Orcish mines has been reduced to 2 floors (used to be 5), Swamp/Shoal and Spider Nest/Snake Pit have been reduced to 4 floors (used to be 7), The Vaults have been reduced to 5 floors (used to be 8), the Dungeon has been split into Dungeon (15 floors) and the Depths (5 floors), rather than the old 27 floors. The weight limit for players that required low-strength casters to juggle items is gone, removing an important source of tedium. I'll say this: I've played both NetHack and Crawl (and many other roguelikes) and the main difference between the two of them, for me, is that I have fun playing Crawl and I have never enjoyed myself playing NetHack.