[enneff]

I'd rather not have my tools perform magical heuristics to try to figure out what I meant to do.

The "-f <filename>" flag is perfectly clear, and useful in all modes (c, x, etc). If you remember "tar czf" as a magical incantation, then you're missing something vital. When you understand what each argument means there is no ambiguity. I don't mean to sound condescending, but in my entire life I've never encountered the problem you described.