Finder fails to open links to local files

For example,

$ ls -l foo.txt

lrwxr-xr-x ... foo.txt@ -> bar.txt

If I double-click foo.txt in Finder, it prompts for an application to use rather than just opening with default TextEdit as it has done for decades.

If I type "open foo.txt" from a Terminal command line, it opens bar.txt in Terminal's Space but then merges text files from other Spaces into Terminal's opened bar.txt (?) and finally leaves focus in one of the other Spaces rather than the original Space where I typed "open foo.txt."

Any ETA on restoring a legacy desktop behavior?

(I'm running latest Ventura, not one of your category options, so might say Monterey.)