Matt McIrvin's Freaky Alternate Reality

Hmm, I recall reading a day or so some proposed language along the lines of "... dominates the region around its orbit ..." or something vaguely like that. "Dominates" is the word I remember. With that language you could disqualify Pluto for crossing Neptune's orbit without disqualifying Neptune. But now the phrase seems to be "has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit", and, as you say, if that applies to Pluto, it applies likewise to Neptune.