ok, in default-filters.php I commented out
add_filter(‘bloginfo’,’wp_specialchars’);
add_filter(‘bloginfo’, ‘wptexturize’);
cleared my cache, and then went to the site. The theme still did not load. Is there something else I need to do to have the new default-filters.php used ?
I also tried adding the untexturize plugin described at http://wordpress.org/support/topic/43506?replies=9#post-243832
still no luck, theme is not visible and the source code is still replacing the ‘x’
UPDATE: it is corrected. Thanks for the help!