diff --git a/assets/x_hand.png b/assets/x_hand.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0997bc5
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/x_hand.png differ
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index cb40c76..5ecad3d 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -359,6 +359,6 @@
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=129"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=130"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/render.js b/render.js
index 49234e3..80661a3 100644
--- a/render.js
+++ b/render.js
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ export function proj(x, y, z) {
 // Asset cache-buster — bump with main.js?v=N (see the img.src note below). EXPORTED because the
 // menu screens hang <img> tags on the same files, and two copies of this number is one copy too
 // many: the one that does not get bumped is the one that serves a cached 404.
-export const SPRV = 86;
+export const SPRV = 87;
 // The boot bar in main.js watches this. Nothing here CHANGES when things load — every sprite was
 // already requested at import — it just makes the wait visible and holds the menu back until the
 // last sheet has landed. See the onerror note below for the other half of "sometimes missing".
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ for (const n of ['p_idle1','p_idle2','p_bounce','p_bounce2','p_toss','p_smash','
                  'x_crowd_h','x_crowd_h2','x_ads_h',           // THE SLAB (hard)
                  'x_boymop1','x_boymop2','x_boymop3','x_boymop4', // the push cycle, used only while he is stopped and working
                  'x_boycarry1','x_boycarry2','x_boycarry3','x_boycarry4','x_howto','x_cross', // walking with the mop shouldered, and the slingshot tutorial panel
+                 'x_hand', // the ghost tutorial hand (drawGhostHand) — generated art, Oliver's reference pose
                  'z_gw2','z_gw3','z_gw4','z_gwb','z_gw2b','z_gw3b','z_gw4b', // the brute comes apart in stages (4/5 hp = z_gw .. 1/5 = z_gw4), each with a 2-frame lurch (…b)
                  'z_boss1','z_boss2','z_bossw1','z_bossw2','z_bossw3', // the CHAPTER BOSS: 2-frame stride + three wound stages (arm off -> ribs out -> headless)
                  'z_bosst0','z_bosst1','z_bosst2','z_bosst3', // ...and each of those four states mid-THROW (windT)
@@ -1204,22 +1205,26 @@ function drawCard(title, sub1, sub2, color, icon) {
 // finger goes here". `press` (0..1) dips it toward the glass, which is what makes a mimed tap
 // read as a tap and not as a cursor hovering. Pure canvas paths, no sprite: it is HUD chrome in
 // the UI palette, same family as the arrowheads and the dotted track, not a body on the court.
-function drawGhostHand(x, y, press = 0, s = 1.4) {
+function drawGhostHand(x, y, press = 0, hPx = 34) {
+  const img = SPR.x_hand, yy = Math.round(y) - 3 + press * 4;
+  if (img) { // real art now (assets/x_hand.png, drawn to Oliver's reference pose)
+    const w = Math.round(img.width * hPx / img.height);
+    ctx.imageSmoothingEnabled = false;
+    // 0.368: the index fingertip's x as a fraction of the PNG's width, MEASURED off the sprite
+    // (topmost opaque row's centroid) so the tip lands exactly on the point being taught
+    ctx.drawImage(img, Math.round(x - w * 0.368), yy, w, hPx);
+    return;
+  }
+  // fallback while the sprite loads (or a cached 404 — this project's oldest trap): the drawn hand
   ctx.save();
-  ctx.translate(Math.round(x), Math.round(y) - 3 + press * 4);
-  ctx.scale(s, s);       // 1.4 default — the first cut was "you could recognize it, but…" small
-  ctx.rotate(-0.15);     // the slight tilt a right hand actually lands with
+  ctx.translate(Math.round(x), yy); ctx.scale(1.4, 1.4); ctx.rotate(-0.15);
   ctx.fillStyle = UI.cream; ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgba(8,12,10,0.8)'; ctx.lineWidth = 1;
   ctx.beginPath(); ctx.roundRect(-2.5, 0, 5, 15, 2.5); ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke();  // index finger, tip at origin
   ctx.beginPath(); ctx.roundRect(-2.5, 12, 13, 11, 5); ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke();  // the palm behind it
-  // three CURLED fingers along the palm's leading edge — the knuckle bumps are what make the
-  // silhouette read as a pointing hand instead of a mitten
   for (const [bx, by, br] of [[4.5, 13.2, 2.4], [7.4, 13.7, 2.2], [9.9, 14.4, 2.0]]) {
-    ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(bx, by, br, 0, 7); ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke();
+    ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(bx, by, br, 0, 7); ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke();         // curled knuckles
   }
-  ctx.beginPath(); ctx.ellipse(-3.9, 17.5, 2.6, 4.4, 0.6, 0, 7); ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke(); // thumb, out to the side
-  ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgba(8,12,10,0.35)'; // fingernail hint on the tip
-  ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(0, 3, 1.6, 0, 7); ctx.stroke();
+  ctx.beginPath(); ctx.ellipse(-3.9, 17.5, 2.6, 4.4, 0.6, 0, 7); ctx.fill(); ctx.stroke(); // thumb
   ctx.restore();
 }
 // the contact ring a mimed tap leaves on the glass: grows and fades under the fingertip
@@ -1762,7 +1767,9 @@ export function render() {
     ctx.font = F(10);
     const tw = Math.ceil(ctx.measureText(txt).width);
     ctx.lineWidth = 1;
-    panel(W / 2 - tw / 2 - 7, y - 4, tw + 14, 18, 3, 'rgba(8,26,18,0.85)', hexA(UI.warm, 0.4));
+    // panel top hugs the glyphs: Silkscreen carries its own top leading under baseline 'top',
+    // so a symmetric-looking box needs the frame to start a px above the text, not four
+    panel(W / 2 - tw / 2 - 7, y - 1, tw + 14, 15, 3, 'rgba(8,26,18,0.85)', hexA(UI.warm, 0.4));
     ctx.textBaseline = 'top';
     shadowText(txt, W / 2, y, hexA(UI.warm, 0.95));
   }