I quit cutting butt joints with a utility knife and started using a rasp, and my seams got way cleaner
Back when I was starting out, my journeyman handed me a dull utility knife and said to score and snap every butt joint. I did it that way for years. Lots of crushed edges and a few joints I had to redo because the paper tore. Last spring on a basement job in Springfield I got tired of fighting it and grabbed my drywall rasp instead. Now I shave the edge down slow and test fit until the two boards sit tight. The seams sand out flatter and I use less mud filling them. How do you all finish your butt joints when the boards don't line up clean?