The headline says "masks work", then the article redefines masks to exclude the things that many people are wearing, and then adds further criteria that rules out most other people. It then fails to take into account research that shows that cotton masks become saturated with exhaled moisture and perspiration, and that stops their filtering properties. It also fails to take into account reductions in social distancing or handwashing.

So, yes, if we have a tight definition of both "masks" and "work" we can say that masks work. But we don't care if a piece of fabric can catch droplets, we care if public use of masks in a pandemic helps slow the spread of that disease.