The code suggested by ajross seems more readable not just because it's closer to the metal, but also because reading it doesn't require memorizing many ad-hoc n

The code suggested by ajross seems more readable not just because it's closer to the metal, but also because reading it doesn't require memorizing many ad-hoc names like "splat" and "pluck", you just apply a few logical rules that you learned once. But there's no reason why code written with advanced abstractions couldn't be "locally readable" in the same way...