Thanks Tom, nailed it again.
For passer bys, I deleted:
.cat-links:before, .tags-links:before {
display: inline !important;
font-size: 15px }
Below is final css – now working to hide meta below post, and have + icons under post title:
/* _meta */
.entry-header .gp-icon {
display: inline-block;
font-size: 17px }
.cat-links:before, .tags-links:before {
display: none !important }
.cat-links, .tags-links {
font-size: 0 !important }
.cat-links a, .tags-links a, .author-name {
font-size: 16px;
margin-right: 0.75em }
.cat-links a:not(:first-of-type):before, .tags-links a:not(:first-of-type):before {
content: ',';
margin-right: 0.75em }