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I had a popup with a gray "Close" in the top right corner. I didn't read it so not sure if this is what stopped you.

A rather non-obvious close, so parent comment is correct.

The popup does not have an obvious bold "close" or "X" in the right hand corner or the bottom right, it has a very light grey close in the upper left, and also does not respond to clicking outside the modal dialog.

Thats enough to consider that a dark pattern.

I also tried to hide the popup before I saw the close button. It's very hard to find. But I'm sure that's intentional?

The overlay "Wake up with today's top stories" has a "Close" link at the top, you can click it and read without signing in: http://i.imgur.com/UMewFHE.png

That's what the "web" link below the article link is for.

'web' link also failed for me.