It's too close for comfort. I'm not saying any layout with Helvetica and a sidebar is automatically a Svbtle clone, but this is clearly stolen design, and that doesn't sit well with me.
Again, I'm not saying Dustin Curtis is the only one allowed to use Helvetica and a fixed sidebar. But this blog has copied fonts, spacing, kudos, and generally the layout is exact. Not similar, exact. There's a line that needs to be drawn, and I feel this crosses it.