Mechanics

[Laura Jeanne]

Whenever I see misplaced commas and periods, I feel an obsessive need to correct the error. Commas and periods should ALWAYS AND INVARIABLY be placed inside quotation marks. The only wiggle room occurs if you are quoting a source in an MLA research paper. I doubt you are doing that here! This does not necessarily hold true for the other end marks. Allow me to repeat: Always snuggle your commas and periods next to the word INSIDE the quotation marks.

[waldo]

The author of the quote may not have found him or herself bound by this rule. And good editors are few and far between (read anything published recently).

[Laura Jeanne]

It was an editing error in one of the clues.

[RedEnoch]

Thanks, LJ. I usually do.
“But sometimes it just looks weird”.
“You seem sure about that,” she replied. Maybe I’ve been reading too much badly edited prose.

[RedEnoch]

…and while I’m at it, do you REALLY only leave ONE space after a full stop period now?

[PatienceCrabstick]

Put the blame squarely where it lies: on social media and (to a lesser degree) texting. Cogent thought, grammar, and spelling have all fallen by the wayside. Why should punctuation be any different?

[RedEnoch]

OK. I don’t use social media. I text in English. I raccoon txts in why’ve da spell-corrected vignettes makes it oops to bet . Too late to blame anyone. That cow has left the barn. Even my 83-year-old mother uses emojis.

[M Schereau]

The only wiggle room occurs if you are quoting a source in an MLA research paper.

...or if you're in the UK, which applies to at least a few people who write in English.

...or if you're writing computer code or other specialized forms of text in which logic is more important than tradition. This sometimes leads people who often write computer code (e.g., people who make computer games, websites, or computer games on websites) to fall into the habit in other contexts.

[Laura Jeanne]

Thank you all for your comments! I am smiling. Or