Perhaps, considering that I don't recall having ever had Automatic Updates turned on, and yet my phone had downloaded 10.1.something and was nagging me about installing it. (Automatic Updates already wasn't turned on when I followed the steps to disable it.) Deleting the update from the storage UI is a piece I hadn't previously run across, and I've gone ahead and done it.

I'm now seeing the 10.2 update available, but it hasn't (yet) been downloaded; if a day goes by and it still isn't, then I'd have to say I owe you a beer, or several, for pointing me at a way to relieve what was getting to be a real pain in the neck. (Although why I failed to find this clue for myself is a curious question in its own right - it's certainly not for want of looking! In any case, I greatly appreciate you taking the time to point it out.)

Update: Looks like I owe you a beer, or your preferred alternative beverage! The email address in my profile is a good place to send details of how I may remit the requisite funds; or, if you're in the Baltimore area and want to pick a bar, a day, and a time, I'm good with that too. (Preferably not Fells, though; crowds of drunk twentysomethings and the occasional mugger aren't really my idea of a good time.)

Thanks again! That was really getting on my nerves.

It's not really a proper solution as it kills app updates. (In a nutshell, the article advises disabling automatic updates)

So yes, ridiculous..

Having long since ceased to trust automatic app updates in any case (cf. Uber location awareness creep and YouTube's perennial UI brokenness du jour), I see no problem there.

On the other hand, I'm increasingly sure I have never had automatic updates enabled on this device, yet I had the iOS 10 update downloaded regardless. Perhaps I forgot having done that by hand, or perhaps the setting doesn't apply to OS updates; in any case, time will tell.