Gardner later wrote a deeper article for Skeptical Inquirer. That later article mentions my work, by the way, I'm known as a critic of Khalifa's work. I'd say that Gardner did call the work "ingenious," but that doesn't mean that he supported it. Even a nefarious scheme could be called "ingenious." The Scientific American article shows notice of Khalifa's work, and the present text, which omits "ingenious," is probably more balanced.