QBE certainly leaves a lot to be decided but i don't ever write embedded SQL unless I have to. Static SQL can easily be generated by the QBE as long as your where clause isn't too complex. If you are using querydefs, you don't care what a mess Access makes out of the formatting. All you care about is that you can build a query just by point and click in a matter of seconds and not have to memorize the table and column names of hundreds of tables and thousands of columns or worry about typos. It's a tradeoff. If I have complex SQL that I don't want Access to mess up, I switch to SQL view and format it. Then save the query without switching to QBE view. Access will not reformat the SQL unless you switch to QBE view. I keep a table to store formatted SQL in so in case I lose my mind and switch to QBE view for one of these queries, I can get it back from the table.
The only time I ever use embedded SQL is if I am building a dynamic query as I might for a search form. Back in the 80's when I first started writing SQL, I used to fantasize about having a tool like the QBE and this was before PC's let alone Access
. Why would I ever bother to write queries myself when I have a tool like the QBE, substandard though it is.