Serps crowded with sites targetting synonyms of keyword used

And ~keyword returns non-synonym, straight serps

[bluecorr]

I haven't bothered analysing the algo for a while now, just did optimization the way I know it but for some time there's an issue that's bugging me.

1. Searching for "blae widgets" returns serps with 'did you mean' with "blue widgets" (a single letter difference between the two). The two phrases are synonyms and "blue widgets" is the most searched.

2. The first 20 results in "blae widgets" serps are heavily optimized for "blue widgets" (the did you mean keyphrase) and not for the phrase actually used in the search.

3. For many of these results the "blae" word appears only in links pointing to the page, or in a single reference on the page (or so Google says, these sites seem to have no interest whatsoever in "blae widgets", any "blae" reference seems accidental or random).

So in fact, Google not only suggests an alternative search but goes ahead and combines the two serps to some extent. These top 20 results have thousands of backlinks so beating them is like trying to swim across the Atlantic.

The strange thing is that when searching for "~blae widgets" the serps are clean and do not include sites optimized for "blue widgets". They include only sites that are indeed optimized for "blae widgets".

I have thought of 2 possible explanations:

1. "blue widgets" and "blae widgets" are synonyms and Google sees them as such. The heavily optimized sites for "blue" are therefore listed in the serps for "blae".

Shouldn't results for synonyms be displayed when using the "~" selector? It seems to be the other way around, the "~blae widgets" returns straight serps while "blae widgets" returns synonyms.

2. The top 20 or so sites are so heavily optimized for keywords containing "widget" that a single on-page reference or anchor text with "blae" shots the page right to the top of the serps for "blae widgets".

If someone can shed light on this I'd be most grateful.