I want to know the answer to the following question:
How do most editors work around the reference problems of clear-text editing?
All the background I'm provided with is that "Some critics believe that a clear-text edition gives the edited text too great a prominence, relegating textual variants to appendices that are difficult to use, and suggesting a greater sense of certainty about the established text than it deserves.". Is that enough to answer the question?
Answer: no