I like short "spackle" articles like this.  Good job. 

My only suggestion is that people like to run the code you've included in your article.  Instead of using...

It's horribly slow because every row is a single...

And, yes, I realize this article is from last year but it's new to me.  Nice job, John.

p.s. And I absolutely understand your stance and reasoning when it comes to the absolute dribble that some call "code". 😉

For what it's worth, I absolutely agree that the use of index hints should generally be an absolute last resort and then you should still go back and see what...