diff --git a/src/App.css b/src/App.css
index b1dfbcb0..99f06328 100644
--- a/src/App.css
+++ b/src/App.css
@@ -5632,15 +5632,25 @@ body.has-player .chat-fab {
 
 /* ── Quote cards — the note is the subject, on an accent wash ── */
 .journal-card--quote {
-  padding: 0.9rem;
+  --journal-quote-pad: 0.9rem;
+  padding: var(--journal-quote-pad);
   gap: 0.4rem;
   background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-accent) 12%, var(--color-surface));
 }
 
+/* Two things had this mark reading as a smudge in the corner rather than as
+   the note's own opening quote. The card clips its overflow, so hanging the
+   glyph off the top edge didn't bleed it past the corner — it cut away the
+   half that carries the ink. And a fixed offset put what was left outside the
+   text column, floating against the card's edge instead of lining up with the
+   words it belongs to. So: keep the whole glyph inside the card, and set it
+   against the same padding the note is set against. The leading above the ink
+   is what the top offset takes back, so the mark starts on the note's first
+   line rather than below it. */
 .journal-card-quotemark {
   position: absolute;
-  top: -0.5rem;
-  right: 0.4rem;
+  top: calc(var(--journal-quote-pad) - 0.75rem);
+  right: var(--journal-quote-pad);
   font-family: var(--font-display, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif);
   font-size: 4.5rem;
   line-height: 1;
diff --git a/src/themes/nyt.css b/src/themes/nyt.css
index 7a3c5810..3eed7166 100644
--- a/src/themes/nyt.css
+++ b/src/themes/nyt.css
@@ -310,7 +310,8 @@
 }
 [data-style="nyt"] .journal-card--quote,
 [data-style="nyt"] .journal-card--text {
-  padding: 1.05rem;
+  --journal-quote-pad: 1.05rem;
+  padding: var(--journal-quote-pad);
 }
 
 /* ── App header — crisp masthead rule ────────────────────────────── */