How does Shatter damage objects, if objects are immune to con-save effects?

Question

Shatter has always been my "go to" spell for damaging objects. Whether it was a wooden door or a fragile stone outcropping, I'd cast shatter to crack it or shake it loose. But today, I read something that confused me.

In the PHB, p. 185, (bold added) there is text about Interacting With Objects:

Objects always fail Strength and Dexterity saving throws, and they are immune to effects that require other saves.

Then I read the text of Shatter (PHB, p. 275):

Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature made of inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal has disadvantage on this saving throw.

A nonmagical object that isn’t being worn or carried also takes the damage if it’s in the spell's area.

So now I'm unsure how to deal with this. Naturally, "specific beats general," but I also know that (PHB, p. 197):

Resistance and then vulnerability are applied after all other modifiers to damage.

So it seems like this damage would be applied (as per the text of the spell), then immunity would be applied (reducing the damage to zero).

This can't possibly be the designer intent (or they wouldn't have mentioned the damage to objects in the spell's description): but is there a RAW way around this interpretation?

Answer 1

The spell doesn’t give objects a save — it just deals the damage directly. Only the paragraph about how it affects creatures gives a save.

This circumvents the object immunity rule, since it’s not being affected by an effect with a save, it’s just being dealt damage.

Answer 2

The spell's description says:

Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Constitution saving throw.

The subject for the save is "Each Creature". Objects are not creatures, so they are not included. If the description ended in this paragraph, the spell would not affect objects at all.

Later on, it addresses the effect on objects:

A nonmagical object that isn’t being worn or carried also takes the damage if it’s in the spell's area.

Without specifying a save. Therefore, there is no save for objects.