Sentence:  This might have been an amusing and ingenious piece of fantasy, but Palmer published it, and demanded that it be accepted, as fact. Fans, as might be expected, <WSD>grotched</WSD> most acutely at such a claim, seeing in it the revolting nadir of Palmerism; the completion of his shift from fictionalized science to profitable superstition in the name of commercial appeal to the boob element. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To complain.