diff --git a/agent/finalize.go b/agent/finalize.go
index 64c348d..7bc385d 100644
--- a/agent/finalize.go
+++ b/agent/finalize.go
@@ -136,8 +136,9 @@ var backRefRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)(already answered|see above|as (i )?(sai
 // hyphenated compound — "above-average", "above-board", "above-ground" —
 // read as a clause-final deictic and put a legitimate short answer at risk of
 // being discarded. The em dash stays: a model writes "…above — see the
-// links", never "above-" as a separator.
-var aboveRefRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\babove\b[ \t]*([.,;:!?)\]"'’”—]|\n|$)`)
+// links", never "above-" as a separator. CR is listed alongside LF so a
+// CRLF transcript does not quietly lose every line-final "above".
+var aboveRefRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\babove\b[ \t]*([.,;:!?)\]"'’”—]|\r|\n|$)`)
 
 // pointsAbove reports whether a deictic "above" appears in the terminal's
 // OPENING. The offset bound is what makes a bare "above" safe to key on: with
@@ -157,6 +158,23 @@ func pointsAbove(t string) bool {
 	return loc != nil && loc[0] <= backRefHeadChars
 }
 
+// compressionMarkerRe matches a model announcing that what follows is the
+// short form of something longer ("Short version: …", "TL;DR: …", "In short,
+// …"). It is the second half of the deictic summary-closer test: the pointer
+// says the full answer is elsewhere, and this says the text beside it is a
+// condensation rather than new reasoning.
+//
+// Both halves are required, because a deictic pointer alone does not mean the
+// terminal is disposable. "Given the analysis above, I recommend option B
+// because X" opens with a pointer and then states a CONCLUSION the earlier
+// turn never contained — discarding it in favour of that turn would throw away
+// the answer. A compression marker is the model telling us the opposite.
+//
+// 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.
+var compressionMarkerRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\b(short version|shorter version|short answer|tl;?dr|in short|in brief|in summary|in sum|bottom line|net[- ]net|the gist)\b`)
+
 // summaryCloserRe matches a terminal turn that OPENS with a bookkeeping
 // acknowledgment of the citation round — "Citations are logged.", "Sources
 // cited.", "Logged the citations." — the shape a model produces when it
@@ -296,10 +314,21 @@ func isCitationsOnly(s string) bool {
 
 // isSummaryCloser reports whether a terminal turn defers to an earlier answer
 // and is short enough that whatever follows the deferral can only be a
-// compression of it. Two openers qualify: a complete "citations are logged"
-// -style ack sentence (summaryCloserRe), and a deictic back-reference in the
-// terminal's opening (pointsAbove — mort issue #1611's "Done — that's the full
-// chain above. Short version: …", which the ack shape alone did not cover).
+// compression of it. Two openers qualify:
+//
+//   - a complete bookkeeping ack sentence — "Citations are logged." — which is
+//     summaryCloserRe, and carries no answer content of its own;
+//   - a deictic back-reference in the opening PLUS a compression marker —
+//     mort issue #1611's "Done — that's the full chain above. Short version:
+//     …" — which the ack shape alone did not cover.
+//
+// The second opener needs both halves. A pointer on its own does not make a
+// terminal disposable: "Given the analysis above, I recommend option B because
+// X" points backwards and then states a conclusion the earlier turn never
+// contained, and replacing it with that turn would discard the answer. The
+// compression marker is the model saying the opposite — that what follows is
+// the short form of something it already wrote.
+//
 // Whether the fuller answer actually exists is modeSummary's job — the dwarf
 // ratio in isSubstantiveAnswer keeps a matching closer in place when nothing
 // earlier clearly outweighs it.
@@ -313,7 +342,8 @@ func isSummaryCloser(s string) bool {
 	if t == "" || len(t) > summaryCloserMaxChars {
 		return false
 	}
-	return summaryCloserRe.MatchString(t) || pointsAbove(t)
+	return summaryCloserRe.MatchString(t) ||
+		(pointsAbove(t) && compressionMarkerRe.MatchString(t))
 }
 
 // lastSubstantiveAssistantText scans msgs newest→oldest (skipping the terminal
diff --git a/agent/finalize_test.go b/agent/finalize_test.go
index 76ae38e..f69f555 100644
--- a/agent/finalize_test.go
+++ b/agent/finalize_test.go
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ func TestPointsAbove(t *testing.T) {
 		{"comma", "As shown above, the answer is 60 minutes.", true},
 		{"end-of-string", "The full breakdown is above", true},
 		{"line-final", "Everything is above\n\nShort version: yes.", true},
+		{"line-final-crlf", "Everything is above\r\nShort version: yes.", true},
+		{"crlf-at-end", "The full breakdown is above\r\n", true},
 		{"closing-paren", "(the detail is above).", true},
 		{"semicolon", "It's above; the short answer is no.", true},
 
@@ -80,8 +82,9 @@ func TestPointsAbove(t *testing.T) {
 		{"above-average", "Turnout was above average in three counties.", false},
 
 		// Hyphenated compounds. \b holds between "above" and "-", so a literal
-		// '-' in the terminator class made all of these read as deictic — the
-		// space-separated cases above did NOT cover it (gadfly, 3 models).
+		// '-' in the terminator class makes all of these read as deictic. The
+		// space-separated cases above do NOT cover this: they are a different
+		// character, and one passed while the other was broken.
 		{"hyphen-above-average", "Turnout was above-average in three counties.", false},
 		{"hyphen-above-board", "The deal was above-board from the start.", false},
 		{"hyphen-above-ground", "Run the above-ground cable along the fence.", false},
@@ -196,6 +199,13 @@ func TestIsSummaryCloser(t *testing.T) {
 		{"1611-verbatim", closer1611, true},
 		{"above-pointer-plus-tldr", "That's the whole picture above. In short: the merger fell through.", true},
 		{"prepositional-above-is-not-a-closer", "Anything above 100 degrees boils off, which is why the sample evaporated.", false},
+
+		// A deictic pointer WITHOUT a compression marker is not a summary
+		// closer: these state a conclusion the earlier turn never contained,
+		// so replacing them with that turn would discard the answer.
+		{"pointer-then-a-recommendation", "Given the analysis above, I recommend option B: it is the only one that survives a regional outage.", false},
+		{"pointer-then-a-decision", "Based on everything above, we should ship Tuesday and hold the migration until the following sprint.", false},
+		{"pointer-then-a-new-caveat", "That is the chain above. One thing it misses: the Senate vote is scheduled before any of this takes effect.", false},
 		{"1611-over-cap", closer1611 + " " + strings.Repeat("Plenty more detail worth keeping here. ", 4), false}, // >300
 	}
 	for _, c := range cases {
@@ -250,6 +260,10 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	// modeBackRef bar (>=200 bytes, no ratio) accepts it. A shorter closer
 	// would pass under either bar and prove nothing.
 	shortAbovePointer := "Done. The whole chain is above, so there is no point repeating all of that detail down here again."
+	// 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.
+	pointerThenConclusion := "Given the analysis above, I recommend option B: it is the only one that survives a regional outage without a manual failover step."
 	// A terminal using "above" as a PREPOSITION — not a back-reference, so it
 	// must survive verbatim next to a dwarfing prior turn.
 	prepositionalTerminal := "Anything above 100 degrees boils off, which is exactly why the sample evaporated overnight in the unsealed tray."
@@ -556,6 +570,21 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 			terminal: shortAbovePointer,
 			want:     longAnswer,
 		},
+		{
+			// A pointer plus a NEW conclusion is not a compression, so it must
+			// survive verbatim even though a much longer prior turn exists —
+			// otherwise the recommendation is thrown away in favour of the
+			// analysis it was drawn from.
+			name: "above-pointer closer with a new conclusion is not discarded",
+			msgs: []llm.Message{
+				llm.UserText("which option?"),
+				asst(hugeAnswer, cite...),
+				llm.ToolResultsMessage(llm.ToolResult{ID: "c1", Name: "cite", Content: "ok"}),
+				asst(pointerThenConclusion),
+			},
+			terminal: pointerThenConclusion,
+			want:     pointerThenConclusion,
+		},
 		{
 			// A closer matching BOTH the ack shape and a back-reference
 			// carries no answer content, so the back-ref test must win and the