It seems that over the years of the seemingly constant WordPress security updates, the registration system was broken at some point, when they forced all SMTP connections to use ‘STARTTLS’ even when not needed (e.g. connecting to a TLS only port). A minor patch restored previous functionality and now the registration system and therefore the ability to comment has been restored.
The life of Michelle Sullivan an amateur photographer, geek, trans-woman, and narcissist (according to some)..