Is my under-sink drain layout overcomplicated, or is this just how it's done?

I redid mine last spring after two years of wiping drips off the cabinet floor and I should have done it sooner. Mine had a similar spaghetti mess, a deep sink tie-in, a dishwasher connection wedged in at a weird angle, and a slip nut that had been overtightened so many times the plastic threads were chewed up. I ended up replacing the whole tailpiece and trap with standard parts from the big box store, maybe forty bucks total, and it took an afternoon with nothing but a bucket and hand-tightening plus a quarter turn with pliers. What surprised me was how much the drips came down to one bad joint, not the number of joints. The little rubber washer under the basket strainer had gone hard and flat, so water was wicking out every time a big pot drained. Once I swapped that and snugged everthing fresh, the extra bend for the dishwasher never leaked again. So I would not assume the layout itself is the problem. That said, if the previous owner glued anything togehter in odd spots or used mismatched pieces, replacing it with a simple kit is cheap enough that I would not live with rings on the wood. Particle board cabinet bottoms do not forgive repeated dampness. I'd run a full sink of water and watch each joint with a flashlight while it drains, that ussually shows you exactly wich connection is the culprit before you buy anything.

Counterpoint: I'd leave the layout alone if it drains fine. Mine has had the same branching setup with a dishwasher tee and a cleanout for about eight years now, and the only time it ever dripped was when a slip nut worked itself loose. Hand tight plus a quarter turn and a fresh washer solved it, and I never touched the arrangement again. Every extra joint is a potential leak, sure, but it's also a joint you can open with your hands when something clogs, which beats cutting pipe.

That dishwasher spigot on the tailpiece is completely normal, by the way. It's called a baffle tee and every kitchen with a dishwasher has one, so that part isn't DIY weirdness at all. Before you buy anything, dry everything off with a towel, then run the tap for a minute and watch each joint with a flashlight. Nine times out of ten it's one nut backing off, usually the lowest one where the trap meets the wall stub. Snug it by hand, no wrench needed, and give it a day. If the rings come back in the same spot, replace that one washer, which costs next to nothing.

The pasta water thing is worth a second look though. If hot starchy water sits in the trap it can cook grease into a paste and slow the drain, so I try to flush with hot tap water after big pot dumps. But slow draining is a different problem from drips, and one I'd fix before ripping out pipe that mostly works.

Following this because mine does the exact same thing, but only with hot starchy water. When I just rinse dishes it stays dry, but dump a pot of boiling noodle water and I get a slow drip from the bendy part underneath. I'm wondering if the heat softens some seal or the gunk in there shifts around. Do those rubbery seals underneath go bad from old age, or is it more likely something's just not tight enough? Also second the flashlight trick, watching it drain in the dark is how I figured out where mine was coming from.

For me the fix was a little tub of plumbers grease, like two bucks at the hardware store. I kept chasing drips by tightening things and just made one washer spit out sideways. Pulled each slip nut, greased the washer so it slid into place flat instead of pinching, and the mystery leaks stopped that same night. Also second the point about hot starchy water, since that starchy film can seep past a washer that's dried out even when plain water never shows a drop. Worth greasing every joint while you're in there anyway, it costs nothing.

In my day we sweated copper or used brass traps with leaded joints, and a drip meant pulling the whole thing and redoing it right. So when I see a maze under a sink my instinct is always the same: check the pitch before you blame the joints. If that horizontal arm sags even a little before it hits the wall, water pools and sits against every connection, and that's when you get those slow rings on the cabinet floor. Pop a level on it. A quarter inch of fall per foot is all you want, and sometimes just remounting the trap higher fixes a 'mystery' leak nobody could find for years.

Update: sorted it. Pulled every slip nut and found two washers pinched sideways, exactly like the grease comment said would happen. Smoked a couple bucks on plumbers grease, seated everything flat, hand tight plus a quarter turn like the other poster suggested. Ran a full pot of boiling water through and the cabinet floor is bone dry. Leaving the layout alone.