diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 86263d8..84c5e1c 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -221,16 +221,19 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
                 letter-spacing: 1px; }
   /* a row, not a stacked tile: three 3:2 tiles stacked fill a phone twice over, and the art still
      reads at this size. -webkit-tap-highlight-color kills iOS's blue flash over the pixel art. */
-  /* MODE buttons are the BANNER row: the whole button is a bright scene of its mode (main.js sets
-     the art + a scrim gradient as the background stack) with the caption written over the bottom.
-     Unpicked buttons sit dimmed and desaturated so the chosen mode is the one that glows — the
-     same "one bright thing means selected" rule the menu palette already follows. */
+  /* MODE posters are pure BUTTONS, not selectors (Oliver: the remembered highlight made each one
+     "a checkbox and a button combined"). Every card is full-bright and equal because every card is
+     a live answer to the header's question; tapping answers and advances. The only memory shown is
+     the LAST tag — an indicator, not a selection. A border that means "SERVE UP will use this"
+     exists solely on the final screen, where a confirm button actually follows. */
   #modeList button.mode, #modeSub button.mode { display: flex; align-items: flex-end; width: 100%; min-height: 96px;
                    margin: 0 0 8px; padding: 7px 9px; background-size: cover; background-position: center bottom;
                    image-rendering: pixelated; border: 2px solid var(--line); color: inherit; font: inherit;
                    text-align: left; cursor: pointer; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;
-                   filter: saturate(0.45) brightness(0.62); transition: filter 0.15s; }
-  #modeList button.mode.on, #modeSub button.mode.on { border-color: var(--acid); filter: none; }
+                   position: relative; }
+  .last { position: absolute; top: 7px; right: 9px; font: 400 8px Silkscreen, monospace;
+                   color: var(--acid); background: rgba(0,0,0,0.72); padding: 3px 6px;
+                   letter-spacing: 1px; border: 1px solid rgba(188,212,85,0.5); }
   #modeList b, #modeSub b { text-shadow: 0 1px 0 #000, 0 0 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.9); }
   /* the subtitle carries the mode's one-line rules over busy art, so it gets WHITE at full
      opacity, a size up from the court rows' 9px, and a solid black underlay — "barely readable"
@@ -240,14 +243,15 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
   /* THE SECOND STEP (config.MENU) has its own SCREEN in the wizard: sub-mode cards are
      full-height posters centred on their scene, and the difficulty chips are plain acid-outline
      buttons stacked tall — art for EASY/MEDIUM/HARD would be forced, and the chip reads faster. */
-  /* alone on their own screens, the posters get room to be posters */
+  /* alone on their own screens, the posters get room to be posters — and the first card clears
+     the header by the same breath the h3 rows used to give the old single page */
+  #stmode #modeList, #stsub #modeSub { margin-top: 12px; }
   #stmode button.mode, #modeSub button.mode { min-height: 148px; }
   #modeSub { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 8px; }
   #modeSub button.mode { background-position: center; }
   #modeSub button.chip { flex: 1 1 100%; padding: 22px 0; background: var(--panel); border: 2px solid var(--line);
                    color: var(--cream); font: 400 13px Silkscreen, monospace; letter-spacing: 2px;
-                   cursor: pointer; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; }
-  #modeSub button.chip.on { border-color: var(--acid); color: var(--acid); background: rgba(188,212,85,0.09); }
+                   cursor: pointer; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; position: relative; }
   #courtList button.court { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 11px; width: 100%;
                    margin: 0 0 8px; padding: 7px; background: var(--panel);
                    border: 2px solid var(--line); color: inherit; font: inherit; text-align: left;
@@ -467,6 +471,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=234"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=235"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 725a9db..ce48241 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -82,17 +82,22 @@ const modeOf = id => MODES.find(x => x.id === id);
 const topOf = m => MENU.find(t => t.mode === m || (t.kids && t.kids.includes(m))) || MENU[0];
 const modeList = document.getElementById('modeList');
 const modeSub = document.getElementById('modeSub');
-const banner = (card, cls, on) => {
+// QUESTION SCREENS CARRY NO SELECTION (Oliver: a highlighted card that also navigates is "a
+// checkbox and a button combined"). Every poster is full-bright and equal — all of them are live
+// answers — and the only memory shown is the LAST tag, an indicator rather than a selection. The
+// select-and-confirm border lives solely on the final screen, where SERVE UP actually confirms.
+const banner = (card, cls, last) => {
   const b = document.createElement('button');
-  b.className = cls + (on ? ' on' : '');
+  b.className = cls;
   // the scrim rides IN the background stack (gradient over art), so the caption needs no extra box
   b.style.backgroundImage =
     `linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(0,0,0,0) 34%, rgba(0,0,0,0.78)), url(assets/${card.art}.png?v=${SPRV})`;
-  b.innerHTML = `<span class="cb"><b>${card.name}</b><i>${card.sub}</i></span>`;
+  b.innerHTML = `<span class="cb"><b>${card.name}</b><i>${card.sub}</i></span>`
+    + (last ? '<u class="last">LAST</u>' : '');
   return b;
 };
 const pickMode = id => { pickedMode = id; try { localStorage.setItem('mode', id); } catch {} };
-// TAP ADVANCES. Each screen's tap both selects and moves on — the wizard's whole promise is one
+// TAP ADVANCES. Each screen's tap both answers and moves on — the wizard's whole promise is one
 // decision per screen, and a NEXT button under a single row of choices is a second tap for nothing.
 function buildSub() {
   modeSub.innerHTML = '';
@@ -100,12 +105,11 @@ function buildSub() {
   document.getElementById('subTitle').textContent = t.diffs ? 'DIFFICULTY' : (t.name || '');
   if (t.diffs) for (const d of DIFFS) {
     const b = document.createElement('button');
-    b.className = 'chip' + (d.id === pickedDiff ? ' on' : '');
-    b.textContent = d.name;
+    b.className = 'chip';
+    b.innerHTML = d.name + (d.id === pickedDiff ? '<u class="last">LAST</u>' : '');
     b.addEventListener('click', () => {
       pickedDiff = d.id;
       try { localStorage.setItem('diff', d.id); } catch {}
-      for (const el of modeSub.children) el.classList.toggle('on', el === b);
       summary();
       go('setup');
     });
@@ -115,25 +119,28 @@ function buildSub() {
     const b = banner(modeOf(id), 'mode', id === pickedMode);
     b.addEventListener('click', () => {
       pickMode(id);
-      for (const el of modeSub.children) el.classList.toggle('on', el === b);
       summary();
       go('setup');
     });
     modeSub.appendChild(b);
   }
 }
-for (const t of MENU) {
-  const b = banner(t.mode ? modeOf(t.mode) : t, 'mode', topOf(pickedMode) === t);
-  b.addEventListener('click', () => {
-    // a group remembers which child you were on; entering it fresh lands on its first card
-    pickMode(t.mode || (t.kids.includes(pickedMode) ? pickedMode : t.kids[0]));
-    for (const el of modeList.children) el.classList.toggle('on', el === b);
-    buildSub();
-    summary();
-    go(t.diffs || t.kids ? 'modesub' : 'setup');
-  });
-  modeList.appendChild(b);
+// the top posters are rebuilt on every visit so the LAST tag follows what was actually played
+function buildTops() {
+  modeList.innerHTML = '';
+  for (const t of MENU) {
+    const b = banner(t.mode ? modeOf(t.mode) : t, 'mode', topOf(pickedMode) === t);
+    b.addEventListener('click', () => {
+      // a group remembers which child you were on; entering it fresh lands on its first card
+      pickMode(t.mode || (t.kids.includes(pickedMode) ? pickedMode : t.kids[0]));
+      buildSub();
+      summary();
+      go(t.diffs || t.kids ? 'modesub' : 'setup');
+    });
+    modeList.appendChild(b);
+  }
 }
+buildTops();
 buildSub();
 
 // --- tour tiles, built from the table. Same "tap selects, SERVE UP starts" rule as the court rows —
@@ -238,7 +245,9 @@ const openStats = () => {
   for (const el of document.getElementById('stModes').children) el.classList.toggle('on', el.dataset.m === stMode);
   stats.drawStats(stPeriod, SPRV, stMode); go('stats');
 };
-document.getElementById('mStart').addEventListener('click', () => go('mode'));
+// entering a question screen rebuilds it, so the LAST tag always names the run actually played
+const goMode = () => { buildTops(); go('mode'); };
+document.getElementById('mStart').addEventListener('click', goMode);
 document.getElementById('mStats').addEventListener('click', openStats);
 document.getElementById('mRanks').addEventListener('click', () => { go('ranks'); stats.drawRanks(); });
 
@@ -291,10 +300,11 @@ for (const id of ['mBack', 'stBack', 'rkBack', 'scBack'])
   document.getElementById(id).addEventListener('click', () => go('splash'));
 // the wizard walks back the way it came: who-and-where returns to the mode's own second step when
 // it has one, the second step returns to the posters
-document.getElementById('subBack').addEventListener('click', () => go('mode'));
+document.getElementById('subBack').addEventListener('click', goMode);
 document.getElementById('sBack').addEventListener('click', () => {
   const t = topOf(pickedMode);
-  go(t.diffs || t.kids ? 'modesub' : 'mode');
+  if (t.diffs || t.kids) { buildSub(); go('modesub'); }
+  else goMode();
 });
 document.getElementById('bsBack').addEventListener('click', () => go('secret'));
 
@@ -423,7 +433,7 @@ addEventListener('keydown', e => {
   if (e.key === 'Escape') return go('splash');
   if (stage === 'splash') {
     if (!loaded()) return;               // the boot bar hides the buttons; a key must not walk past it
-    if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') go('mode');
+    if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') goMode();
     else if (e.key === 's' || e.key === 'S') openStats();
     return;
   }