I feel like going over what someone has said/has not said can become a hassle as so many factors affect it (whether they are in the know or not, whether they are under NDA, whether they just choose not to say anything to not raise (false) hopes, whether they’re just lying...). I want Shantae in as much as the next, but I don’t think WF not talking about Smash means much really, in any way or another.
But all of this is just speculation so it’s fine I guess.
I’ll see how the rest of the milestones WF put up turn out. And even then if no mention of Smash (even Shantae’s spirit) comes up, a reason for it could be just them wanting to focus on their own games or games they’ve co-developed as they seem to have been with the milestones so far.
Truthfully, if I were a game company/developer, I’d be hesitant to comment about Smash even the slightest as the fans can get crazy and take stuff out of proportion lol.