diff --git a/test/spec.txt b/test/spec.txt
@@ -5601,13 +5601,23 @@ foo
## Entity and numeric character references
-All valid HTML entity references and numeric character
-references, except those occurring in code blocks and code spans,
-are recognized as such and treated as equivalent to the
-corresponding Unicode characters. Conforming CommonMark parsers
-need not store information about whether a particular character
-was represented in the source using a Unicode character or
-an entity reference.
+Valid HTML entity references and numeric character references
+can be used in place of the corresponding Unicode character,
+with the following exceptions:
+
+- Entity and character references are not recognized in code
+ blocks and code spans.
+
+- Entity and character references cannot stand in place of
+ special characters that define structural elements in
+ CommonMark. For example, although `*` can be used
+ in place of a literal `*` character, `*` cannot replace
+ `*` in emphasis delimiters, bullet list markers, or thematic
+ breaks.
+
+Conforming CommonMark parsers need not store information about
+whether a particular character was represented in the source
+using a Unicode character or an entity reference.
[Entity references](@) consist of `&` + any of the valid
HTML5 entity names + `;`. The
@@ -5745,6 +5755,51 @@ text in code spans and code blocks:
````````````````````````````````
+Entity and numeric character references cannot be used
+in place of symbols indicating structure in CommonMark
+documents.
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+*foo*
+*foo*
+.
+<p>*foo*
+<em>foo</em></p>
+````````````````````````````````
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+* foo
+
+* foo
+.
+<p>* foo</p>
+<ul>
+<li>foo</li>
+</ul>
+````````````````````````````````
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+foo bar
+.
+<p>foo
+
+bar</p>
+````````````````````````````````
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+	foo
+.
+<p>→foo</p>
+````````````````````````````````
+
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+[a](url "tit")
+.
+<p>[a](url "tit")</p>
+````````````````````````````````
+
+
## Code spans
A [backtick string](@)
@@ -7464,6 +7519,15 @@ bar>)
bar>)</p>
````````````````````````````````
+The destination can contain `)` if it is enclosed
+in pointy brackets:
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+[a](<b)c>)
+.
+<p><a href="b)c">a</a></p>
+````````````````````````````````
+
Pointy brackets that enclose links must be unescaped:
```````````````````````````````` example
@@ -7472,6 +7536,18 @@ Pointy brackets that enclose links must be unescaped:
<p>[link](<foo>)</p>
````````````````````````````````
+These are not links, because the opening pointy bracket
+is not matched properly:
+
+```````````````````````````````` example
+[a](<b)c
+[a](<b)c>
+[a](<b>c)
+.
+<p>[a](<b)c
+[a](<b)c>
+[a](<b>c)</p>
+````````````````````````````````
Parentheses inside the link destination may be escaped: