Which is also inaccessible (and goes against WCAG [1])

[1] https://webaim.org/blog/wcag-2-0-and-link-colors/

you shouldn't make things a link without decorations tbh

when hn could use a more distinct style for it

And Nielsen had plenty to say about that too.

Indeed. Craigslist seems to be about the only site out there that hasn't fallen for every dumb design fad of the past 30 years.