I’ve read the pertinent sections in three or four of the major organic texts, and they all fail disastrously. They fling around useless terms like “strong” or “weak” bases, don’t provide any guidance on the criteria for achieving kinetic or thermodynamic products as major and/or in what proportions, then leave you to hang when it comes to solving problems. I’m absolutely livid.

This is about the best description I’ve seen, although I’m still confused. It seems like unless you’re laying on some serious heat (like a Wittig or a Grignard reagent) onto a conjugated enone, you might as well fall back on 1,4-addition products as being major?? I wouldn’t characterize methoxide as a “weak” base (try dropping a beaker down your shorts and tell me it is “weak”), but apparently it is in terms of conjugate addition…..