An optimizer hint I stopped needing on 8.0.33

A FORCE INDEX added in 2019 to work around a bad plan choice, still in the query four years and three major versions later.

-- what it was
SELECT * FROM orders FORCE INDEX (idx_status_created)
WHERE status = 'pending' AND created_at > ?;

-- removing it, on 8.0.33:
--   with hint     12ms   idx_status_created
--   without       11ms   idx_status_created
-- the optimiser now picks it on its own.

An index hint is a decision frozen at the moment it was added, and it survives schema changes and version upgrades that would have changed the answer. Ours had become harmless; the danger case is the hint that forces a now-inferior index and gets blamed on the database. Auditing them yearly is five minutes and found four, of which three were removable.