[masklinn]

> here's the edge case though.

That's no more an edge case than the cases where you throw away the return value or you're binding to an ambiguous type e.g. `A getFoo()`, `B getFoo()`, `Object foo = getFoo()`.

> The more I think about this the more I wonder why this isn't possible.

The Java spec does not say, for C++ Stroustrup states it's

> to keep resolution for an individual operator or function call context-independent.

the Java reason is likely also some sort of Principle of Least Surprise claim.