diff --git a/agent/finalize_test.go b/agent/finalize_test.go
index e300523..76ae38e 100644
--- a/agent/finalize_test.go
+++ b/agent/finalize_test.go
@@ -96,7 +96,12 @@ func TestPointsAbove(t *testing.T) {
 		// the constant it is meant to pin moves with it, and a break-check
 		// that widened the bound to 100000 sailed straight through.
 		{"late-reference-not-a-pointer", strings.Repeat("x", 200) + " as shown above.", false},
-		{"reference-at-the-bound", strings.Repeat("x", 100) + " above.", true},
+		// The exact boundary, both sides: "above" starts at index 120 (allowed,
+		// the bound is <=) and at 121 (rejected). 119/120 x's plus the space
+		// puts the 'a' on 120/121 — the separator is needed because \b will not
+		// hold between "x" and "above".
+		{"reference-exactly-at-the-bound", strings.Repeat("x", 119) + " above.", true},
+		{"reference-one-past-the-bound", strings.Repeat("x", 120) + " above.", false},
 	}
 	for _, c := range cases {
 		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -239,6 +244,12 @@ 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 98-byte deictic closer: inside the weak-final cap (120), and sized so
+	// the two bars actually DISAGREE about it — 3x98 = 294 > 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.
+	shortAbovePointer := "Done. The whole chain is above, so there is no point repeating all of that detail down here again."
 	// 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."
@@ -526,6 +537,25 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 			terminal: prepositionalTerminal,
 			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",
+			msgs: []llm.Message{
+				llm.UserText("q?"),
+				asst(longAnswer, cite...),
+				llm.ToolResultsMessage(llm.ToolResult{ID: "c1", Name: "cite", Content: "ok"}),
+				asst(shortAbovePointer),
+			},
+			terminal: shortAbovePointer,
+			want:     longAnswer,
+		},
 		{
 			// A closer matching BOTH the ack shape and a back-reference
 			// carries no answer content, so the back-ref test must win and the