> That said, skipping synonyms and other query variant generation is definitely throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I disagree, I want control back. They've neutered almost every query narrowing option they used to have. They don't care anymore they just want to give you results.

I'm not saying the, lets call it 'query automation', is always bad, I just want the option to turn it off to some degree. Apparently we can no longer be trusted with that.