diff --git a/agent/finalize.go b/agent/finalize.go
index 88220af..1b5fd50 100644
--- a/agent/finalize.go
+++ b/agent/finalize.go
@@ -153,9 +153,17 @@ var aboveRefRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\babove\b[ \t]*([.,;:!?)\]"'’”—]|
 // only safe under isWeakFinal's 120-byte cap. Folding the two into one
 // predicate for tidiness would hand isSummaryCloser an unanchored match across
 // 300 bytes — widening the gate, not deduplicating it.
-func pointsAbove(t string) bool {
+func pointsAbove(t string) bool { return aboveRefLoc(t) != nil }
+
+// aboveRefLoc returns the span of the qualifying deictic reference, or nil.
+// One place performs the match and the offset test, so pointsAbove and
+// bareAbovePointer cannot disagree about what counts as a pointer.
+func aboveRefLoc(t string) []int {
 	loc := aboveRefRe.FindStringIndex(t)
-	return loc != nil && loc[0] <= backRefHeadChars
+	if loc == nil || loc[0] > backRefHeadChars {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return loc
 }
 
 // bareAbovePointer reports whether the terminal is a deictic back-reference and
@@ -176,18 +184,28 @@ func pointsAbove(t string) bool {
 // bare, and a comparative "above," with an interjection after it keeps the rest
 // of its own sentence for the same reason.
 func bareAbovePointer(t string) bool {
-	loc := aboveRefRe.FindStringIndex(t)
-	if loc == nil || loc[0] > backRefHeadChars {
+	loc := aboveRefLoc(t)
+	if loc == nil {
 		return false
 	}
 	start := 0
-	if k := strings.LastIndexAny(t[:loc[0]], ".!?\n"); k >= 0 {
+	if k := strings.LastIndexAny(t[:loc[0]], clauseBoundaryChars); k >= 0 {
 		start = k + 1
 	}
 	rest := strings.TrimSpace(t[:start]) + " " + strings.TrimSpace(t[loc[1]:])
 	return bareRemainderRe.MatchString(strings.Trim(rest, pointerResidueCutset))
 }
 
+// clauseBoundaryChars ends the clause the reference belongs to. Commas,
+// semicolons, colons and dashes are in it, not just sentence terminators,
+// because the answer can share the reference's SENTENCE: "Ship Tuesday, as
+// shown above." is a decision plus a pointer, and cutting back only to the
+// previous full stop swallowed the decision and made the whole thing look
+// bare. That is the same defect as treating a pointer as disposable because
+// something followed it — mirrored, and it survived a round of review because
+// every case I had written put the answer AFTER the pointer.
+const clauseBoundaryChars = ".!?\n,;:—"
+
 // pointerResidueCutset is trimmed from both ends of what survives cutting the
 // pointer's clause — the brackets, quotes, and punctuation a model wraps a
 // back-reference in ("(Already answered above.)").
@@ -196,7 +214,7 @@ const pointerResidueCutset = " \t\r\n.,;:!?()[]{}\"'“”‘’*_-—"
 // bareRemainderRe matches a remainder that carries no answer: empty, or only
 // the filler a closer opens with. Shares fillerWords with summaryPreface so the
 // two lists cannot drift.
-var bareRemainderRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^(` + fillerWords + `[\s,.!:—-]*)*$`)
+var bareRemainderRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^(` + fillerWords + fillerSep + `*)*$`)
 
 // compressionMarkerRe matches a model announcing that what follows is the
 // short form of something longer ("Short version: …", "TL;DR: …", "In short,
@@ -213,6 +231,7 @@ var bareRemainderRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^(` + fillerWords + `[\s,.!:—-]*
 // A marker WITHOUT a pointer stays out of scope, as summaryCloserRe's own
 // comment explains: a user who asked for brevity is answered with exactly that
 // shape.
+//
 // The marker must OPEN a sentence. Mid-sentence the same words are ordinary
 // prose carrying new content — "Given the analysis above, the bottom line is
 // that we need a different vendor" states a conclusion, it does not announce a
@@ -238,8 +257,11 @@ const (
 	// fillerWords are the throat-clearing tokens a closer opens with. Shared
 	// with bareRemainderRe, which has to recognise exactly the same set as
 	// "not answer content".
-	fillerWords    = `(done|all set|ok(ay)?)`
-	summaryPreface = `(` + fillerWords + `[\s,.!:—-]+)?` // optional "Done —" style opener
+	fillerWords = `(done|all set|ok(ay)?)`
+	// fillerSep is the punctuation a filler word trails. Shared for the same
+	// reason fillerWords is: two copies of one separator class drift.
+	fillerSep      = `[\s,.!:—-]`
+	summaryPreface = `(` + fillerWords + fillerSep + `+)?` // optional "Done —" style opener
 	summaryNouns   = `(citations?|sources?|references?|claims?)`
 	// "all" appears here AND in summaryArticle on purpose: as a quantifier
 	// between noun and verb ("Citations all logged.") and as a determiner
diff --git a/agent/finalize_test.go b/agent/finalize_test.go
index 3a999f1..821a3b7 100644
--- a/agent/finalize_test.go
+++ b/agent/finalize_test.go
@@ -37,6 +37,14 @@ func TestIsWeakFinal(t *testing.T) {
 		// content beside it is the answer, and discarding the terminal would
 		// throw it away.
 		{"pointer-plus-a-decision", "That's the chain above. Ship Tuesday.", false},
+
+		// The answer can also sit BEFORE the pointer, in the same sentence.
+		// Cutting back to the previous full stop rather than the previous
+		// CLAUSE swallowed it and made these look bare.
+		{"answer-before-pointer-same-sentence", "Ship Tuesday, as shown above.", false},
+		{"filler-then-answer-before-pointer", "OK. The verdict is guilty, as detailed above.", false},
+		{"answer-before-pointer-no-filler", "The answer is sixty minutes, as computed above.", false},
+		{"answer-before-pointer-semicolon", "We are going with B; the rationale is above.", false},
 		{"pointer-plus-a-choice", "See the summary above. Option B wins.", false},
 		{"pointer-mid-sentence-then-answer", "As shown above, the answer is sixty minutes.", false},
 		{"prepositional-then-deictic-with-content", "Anything above 100 boils. See the note above.", false},
@@ -272,16 +280,6 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	bothMatchCloser := "Citations are logged. As I mentioned above, the full detail on the money sources is in my earlier message."
 	// The #1611 pair: a front-loaded analysis that dwarfs its 220-byte closer.
 	analysis := analysis1611()
-	// A 96-byte BARE deictic closer: nothing but filler and the pointer's own
-	// clause, inside the weak-final cap (120), and sized so the two bars
-	// actually DISAGREE — 3x96 = 288 > longAnswer's 275, so the summary
-	// closer's dwarf ratio would reject longAnswer while the modeBackRef bar
-	// (>=200 bytes, no ratio) accepts it. A shorter closer would pass under
-	// either bar and prove nothing. It must also stay BARE: an earlier draft
-	// ended "…so there is no point repeating it", and prose after the
-	// reference is indistinguishable from an answer, so bareAbovePointer
-	// correctly stopped treating it as disposable.
-	shortAbovePointer := "Done — that is the complete chain, start to finish, exactly as I worked it out for you, above."
 	// A deictic pointer followed by a NEW conclusion (no compression marker):
 	// >120 bytes so isWeakFinal cannot claim it, and it must not be treated as
 	// a summary closer either.
@@ -574,23 +572,19 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 			want:     prepositionalTerminal,
 		},
 		{
-			// A SHORT deictic closer takes the modeBackRef bar, not the summary
-			// closer's mandatory dwarf ratio — even though it carries a scrap
-			// of answer content ("Done."). Deliberate, and the same contract a
-			// short "see above" closer has always had: within the 120-byte cap
-			// there is no room for both a pointer and a real answer, so a
-			// >=200-byte prior turn wins without having to be 3x. Here the
-			// ratio would demand ~330 bytes and wrongly keep the pointer.
-			// (gadfly/sonnet flagged the asymmetry; this pins it.)
-			name: "short above-pointer closer uses the back-ref bar, not the dwarf ratio",
+			// The mirror of the case below: the answer sits BEFORE the pointer,
+			// in the same sentence. Every case in this file put it after, which
+			// is how a cut-back-to-the-previous-full-stop swallowed "Ship
+			// Tuesday" and shipped.
+			name: "answer before the pointer in the same sentence is not discarded",
 			msgs: []llm.Message{
-				llm.UserText("q?"),
-				asst(longAnswer, cite...),
+				llm.UserText("when do we ship?"),
+				asst(hugeAnswer, cite...),
 				llm.ToolResultsMessage(llm.ToolResult{ID: "c1", Name: "cite", Content: "ok"}),
-				asst(shortAbovePointer),
+				asst("Ship Tuesday, as shown above."),
 			},
-			terminal: shortAbovePointer,
-			want:     longAnswer,
+			terminal: "Ship Tuesday, as shown above.",
+			want:     "Ship Tuesday, as shown above.",
 		},
 		{
 			// The isWeakFinal twin of the case below: a SHORT pointer that