Slurs and Ties

[Noeck]

Hi,

while answering a question here, I wondered about the different
positioning of slurs and ties. Slurs begin and end centred on the note
head, while ties are placed between the notes (cf. example below). I
think this is also what Gould suggests.

\relative c'' {
  \textLengthOff
  b^"expected"   ~ b( b) b
  a^"a bit ugly" ~ a( a) a
  d,^"expected" ~ d( d) d
  c^"hard to distinguish" ~ c( c) c
  b^"expected" ~ b( b) b
}

It has two consequences that look strange to my eye:

1.) For notes between the staff lines (a’ and c” - and others for
different directions), the slur crosses a staff line. Is that intended?
It is a bit ugly but probably the only way to distinguish it from a tie.

2.) For notes outside the staff (on ledger lines, like c’) there is in
my opinion no reason to place ties below the note heads. I would prefer
to have them placed like for the d or b example, because currently ties
are almost undistinguishable (when not printed in direct comparison) for
those notes. Or is that done on purpose?

Thanks for clarifying!
Joram