I agree with you, about this specific example and in general. When I look back on my career, often when I've said something is "clever for its own sake" was on

I agree with you, about this specific example and in general. When I look back on my career, often when I've said something is "clever for its own sake" was only clever because of a lack of understanding on my part, and rarely for its own sake, outside of toys and obscurity competition where such cleverness is the point.