the spuds were duds

20:45 Jul 28, 2017 

dud
dəd/
informal
noun
noun: dud; plural noun: duds

1.
a thing that fails to work properly or is otherwise unsatisfactory or worthless.
"a high-grade collection, not a dud in the lot"
an ineffectual person.
"a complete dud, incapable of even hitting the ball"
synonyms: failure, flop, letdown, disappointment, loss-maker; More
informalwashout, lemon, no-hoper, nonstarter, dead loss, clunker
"their new product is a dud"
antonyms: success
2.
clothes.
"buy yourself some new duds"

adjective
adjective: dud

1.
not working or meeting standards; faulty.
"a dud ignition switch"
synonyms: defective, faulty, unsound, inoperative, broken, malfunctioning; More
informalbust, busted, kaput, conked out
"a dud typewriter"
antonyms: sound
counterfeit.
"charged with issuing dud checks"
synonyms: counterfeit, fraudulent, forged, fake, faked, false, bogus; More
invalid, worthless;
informalphony
"a dud $50 bill"
antonyms: genuine

Origin

15:57 Jul 28, 2017 

"The potatoes were in some fundamental way disappointing."

"Duds" here is synonymous with "a disappointment" and "failing to meet expectations." More typically, the term denotes "of inferior quality" (subjectively and/or objectively), but such does not appear to be the case here, where the reference seems only to the reaction of the Spaniards to the newfangled root.

As I pointed out in my comment to Dariusz, "duds" really isn't the best choice of words here (the cheap rhyme evidently proved to tempting for the writer to resist)....

Example:
"When it comes to his Kudoz contributions, that guy is a real dud. For every 20 suggestions he makes, maybe only one comes across as half-intelligent."