diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 796b57e..cc29883 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -262,6 +262,10 @@ note only says where to start.
     `myevent:`/`mytask:`, or with no resolvable game) stay out of v2 account data, as nothing can
     show them; they survive in `legacyRaw`, `v2:migration-recovery` and the v1 keys. After a
     rollback, anything done in the new build is in v2 only: stranded for the old app, not lost.
+- [ ] Find why the tour's look switches snapped back and the tour restarted after Finish (owner,
+  2026-10-18). Not reproduced; paused by the owner. Guards are in, and the investigation so far is in
+  the [handoff](docs/handoffs/2026-10-17-redesign-second-rejection-handoff.md) → "Owner feedback on
+  the forced tour".
 - [ ] Decide where an imported v1 file's marks go when its region differs from the reader's account.
   Today they land in a new `account:import-N`, kept but out of sight (`state/reader/import.ts`,
   `export.ts`). Options: merge into the visible account for that game, or show the imported account
diff --git a/docs/DESIGN.md b/docs/DESIGN.md
index af576b6..1f8a83a 100644
--- a/docs/DESIGN.md
+++ b/docs/DESIGN.md
@@ -634,13 +634,21 @@ legend on the same baseline as "Next: …".
 - **The tour (2026-10-18, owner).** Every reader takes it once before using the app: new readers
   straight after setup, returning readers on their first visit, and readers who saw the earlier tour
   once more. Routines → Checklist → Pick a layout → Timeline → Redeem codes → Archive → Settings.
-  - It floats over the page it describes. While forced, the page behind is `inert` under a light
-    scrim. It can be scrolled and seen, but not clicked. There is no Skip, and a reload restarts at
-    step 1.
+  - It floats over the page it describes. While forced, the page behind is `inert`. It can be
+    scrolled and seen, but not clicked. There is no Skip, and a reload restarts at step 1.
+  - Each step rings what it is about (owner, 2026-10-18: greying the page "makes sense, but it should
+    highlight the option"): the nav tab for Routines, Checklist, Archive and Settings, the Checklist
+    or the Timeline board for the two comparing steps, the codes list for codes. While forced, the
+    rest of the page is dimmed around it. The ring is a fixed layer drawn over the target's box
+    (`TourSpotlight`), not the target raised above a scrim, so no stacking context can trap it.
   - "Pick a layout" (on the Checklist) and the Timeline step each hold a two-way switch, Relaxed /
     Structured and New / Classic. The switch changes the page behind in place, and the selected one
     is kept. Readers are shown the difference rather than told about it, because most never open
-    Appearance.
+    Appearance. Continue waits until both options have been on screen (owner: it "should *require*
+    you to have tested both"); the look showing when the step opens counts as one. These two steps
+    move the card to the right edge on wide screens (≥1100px) and scroll their subject to the top of
+    the window, past the code and release banners, so the page has room to show the difference. On a
+    phone the card stays at the foot, shortened, with the options side by side.
   - Returning readers are moved to Relaxed as the tour opens. New readers keep the look they chose in
     setup.
   - Continue stays in a fixed place and Back sits beside it. Only a replay ("Replay the
diff --git a/docs/handoffs/2026-10-17-redesign-second-rejection-handoff.md b/docs/handoffs/2026-10-17-redesign-second-rejection-handoff.md
index 9f53621..34f1397 100644
--- a/docs/handoffs/2026-10-17-redesign-second-rejection-handoff.md
+++ b/docs/handoffs/2026-10-17-redesign-second-rejection-handoff.md
@@ -950,3 +950,21 @@ Schema review: no data-loss or stuck-state path. Accepted, by the owner's rule:
 had picked Structured on purpose is moved to Relaxed once, and the previous value isn't kept. The tour's
 layout step puts it back in one click. Left as is (low): a stale second tab can re-force the tour
 once, and a save-error banner shown during a forced tour can be read but not clicked.
+
+### Owner feedback on the forced tour (2026-10-18)
+
+- **Highlight, try both, room for the Timeline.** Done; see `docs/DESIGN.md` → "The tour". Each
+  step rings its subject, the comparing steps hold Continue until both options have been on screen,
+  and they dock the card to the side and scroll their subject to the top.
+- **Not reproduced, paused by the owner's call:** the owner saw the layout and Timeline switches snap
+  back ("you have to click like 5 times"), and the tour start again right after Finish tour, without
+  end. It did not reproduce in Chrome with one, two or three tabs, locally or on the live site, from
+  a fresh setup or a returning reader (a save logger showed each click written once, and nothing
+  writing it back). The only code that writes `interface` and `redesignTourSeen` on its own is the
+  "unseen" effect in `ReaderApp.tsx` (Relaxed + `"returning"`), and it would cause both symptoms if
+  it fired in some tab after the tour was finished; it now fires at most once per page load and
+  never after that tab saw the tour done. Setup now saves only the prefs it changed, not the whole
+  object, so a setup finished in a stale second tab leaves every other setting alone (the ones setup
+  sets, `redesignTourSeen` among them, it still writes: at worst that tab shows the tour once more). If it recurs:
+  log every `gacha-tracker:v2:reader` write with a stack (wrap `Storage.prototype.setItem`) in the
+  owner's own browser, with their data, and note which tabs are open and which build each runs.
diff --git a/src/client/ReaderApp.tsx b/src/client/ReaderApp.tsx
index d07b414..6ca1e97 100644
--- a/src/client/ReaderApp.tsx
+++ b/src/client/ReaderApp.tsx
@@ -270,8 +270,14 @@ function ReaderContent({
   const tour = prefs.onboarded
     ? tourMode(state.prefs.redesignTourSeen)
     : "done";
+  // At most once per page load, and never after this tab saw the tour
+  // finished: if another tab or a stale write ever put an old marker back,
+  // the reader is not moved to Relaxed and sent round the tour again.
+  const tourSettled = useRef(false);
+  if (tour === "done" && prefs.onboarded) tourSettled.current = true;
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (tour !== "unseen") return;
+    if (tour !== "unseen" || tourSettled.current) return;
+    tourSettled.current = true;
     void dispatch({
       type: "prefs",
       patch: { interface: "relaxed", redesignTourSeen: "returning" },
@@ -752,9 +758,16 @@ function ReaderContent({
                   }
                   // No navigation here: the tour opens next and leads the way,
                   // ending on the chosen view.
+                  // Only what setup changed, so a setup finished in a second,
+                  // stale tab leaves alone every setting setup does not set.
                   await dispatch({
                     type: "prefs",
-                    patch: next.prefs,
+                    patch: Object.fromEntries(
+                      Object.entries(next.prefs).filter(
+                        ([k, v]) =>
+                          JSON.stringify(v) !== JSON.stringify(state.prefs[k]),
+                      ),
+                    ),
                     ...actionMeta(),
                   });
                 }}
@@ -1123,7 +1136,6 @@ function ReaderContent({
           </div>
           {touring && (
             <>
-              {tourForced && <div className="tour-scrim" aria-hidden="true" />}
               <ReturningTour
                 intro={tour === "replay" ? undefined : tour}
                 closable={!tourForced}
diff --git a/src/client/components/redesign/AppNavigation.tsx b/src/client/components/redesign/AppNavigation.tsx
index cc6f398..34e52a7 100644
--- a/src/client/components/redesign/AppNavigation.tsx
+++ b/src/client/components/redesign/AppNavigation.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export function AppNavigation({
         <button
           type="button"
           key={id}
+          data-page={id}
           className={id === "settings" ? "gear" : undefined}
           aria-current={page === id ? "page" : undefined}
           onClick={() => onPage(id)}
diff --git a/src/client/components/redesign/ReturningTour.tsx b/src/client/components/redesign/ReturningTour.tsx
index 3a0ed48..ee0997a 100644
--- a/src/client/components/redesign/ReturningTour.tsx
+++ b/src/client/components/redesign/ReturningTour.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 
 /** Where a step takes the reader; ReaderApp opens the matching page. */
 export type TourStop =
@@ -11,44 +11,54 @@ export const TOUR_STEPS: readonly {
   stop: TourStop;
   title: string;
   body: string;
+  /** What the step is about, highlighted on the page behind. */
+  target: string;
   choice?: TourChoice;
 }[] = [
   {
     stop: "routines",
     title: "Your routines have a home",
     body: "Follow your dailies, weeklies and monthlies in the Routines tab, and pin the ones you want beside your Checklist or on the Timeline.",
+    target: '[data-page="routines"]',
   },
   {
     stop: "soon",
     title: "Your Checklist",
     body: "What ends first, at the top. Focus on a game, tick today's dailies and pinned routines beside the list, and switch between Standard and Compact rows.",
+    target: '[data-page="soon"]',
   },
   {
     stop: "soon",
     title: "Pick a layout",
-    body: "Try both on your own Checklist: the page behind changes as you switch. Whichever is selected when you continue is the one you keep.",
+    body: "Try both on your own Checklist: the page changes as you switch. Whichever is selected when you continue is the one you keep.",
     choice: "interface",
+    target: ".checklist-layout",
   },
   {
     stop: "timeline",
     title: "The Timeline",
-    body: "Every event as a bar across the calendar, with now marked. Try the new and classic looks here; whichever is selected when you continue stays.",
+    body: "Every event as a bar across the calendar, with now marked. Try the new and classic looks on your own events; whichever is selected when you continue stays.",
     choice: "timelineLook",
+    target:
+      ".reader-timeline .timeline-scroller, .reader-timeline .classic-timeline",
   },
   {
     stop: "codes",
     title: "Redeem codes",
     body: "New codes for the games you track show up at the top of the Checklist. Each game's Codes tab lists them with their rewards and expiry, ready to copy, and remembers which you've redeemed.",
+    target: ".codes-page",
   },
   {
     stop: "archive",
     title: "Your Archive",
     body: "Done and ignored events move here with their details and progress. Restore any of them at any time.",
+    target: '[data-page="archive"]',
   },
   {
     stop: "settings",
     title: "Your settings, together",
     body: "Appearance, region and time, each game's servers and colours, data sources and backups. The changelog has its own page here too.",
+    target: '[data-page="settings"]',
   },
 ];
 
@@ -105,10 +115,60 @@ export function tourMode(seen: unknown): TourMode {
   return "unseen";
 }
 
+/** The options of a choice the reader has not yet seen on the page. */
+export function untriedOptions(choice: TourChoice, seen: readonly string[]) {
+  return CHOICES[choice].filter((o) => !seen.includes(o.value));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Rings the step's subject and, while the tour is forced, dims the rest of the
+ * page around it. A fixed layer drawn over the target's box rather than the
+ * target raised above a scrim, so no stacking context on the page can trap it;
+ * it follows the target as the page scrolls, and takes no clicks.
+ */
+function TourSpotlight({ target, dim }: { target: string; dim: boolean }) {
+  const [box, setBox] = useState<DOMRect | null>(null);
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    let frame = 0;
+    const follow = () => {
+      const next = document.querySelector(target)?.getBoundingClientRect();
+      setBox((previous) =>
+        next &&
+        previous &&
+        next.x === previous.x &&
+        next.y === previous.y &&
+        next.width === previous.width &&
+        next.height === previous.height
+          ? previous
+          : (next ?? null),
+      );
+      frame = requestAnimationFrame(follow);
+    };
+    follow();
+    return () => cancelAnimationFrame(frame);
+  }, [target]);
+  if (!box)
+    return dim ? <div className="tour-scrim" aria-hidden="true" /> : null;
+  const pad = 6;
+  return (
+    <div
+      className={dim ? "tour-spotlight dim" : "tour-spotlight"}
+      aria-hidden="true"
+      style={{
+        left: box.x - pad,
+        top: box.y - pad,
+        width: box.width + 2 * pad,
+        height: box.height + 2 * pad,
+      }}
+    />
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * The introduction to Event Clock. Continue always sits first, in the same
  * place, so clicking through never lands on Back; Back follows it. Only a
- * replay has a way out before the end.
+ * replay has a way out before the end. A step with a choice holds Continue
+ * until the reader has seen every option on the page.
  */
 export function ReturningTour({
   intro,
@@ -128,7 +188,19 @@ export function ReturningTour({
   onFinish: () => void;
 }) {
   const [step, setStep] = useState(0);
+  // The options seen at each choice: the look on screen when the step opens
+  // counts, as the reader is looking at it.
+  const [tried, setTried] = useState<Record<TourChoice, string[]>>({
+    interface: [],
+    timelineLook: [],
+  });
   const card = useRef<HTMLElement>(null);
+  const current = TOUR_STEPS[step]!;
+  const choice = current.choice;
+  const see = (key: TourChoice, value: string) =>
+    setTried((t) =>
+      t[key].includes(value) ? t : { ...t, [key]: [...t[key], value] },
+    );
   const go = (next: number) => {
     setStep(next);
     onStep(TOUR_STEPS[next]!.stop);
@@ -137,66 +209,95 @@ export function ReturningTour({
     onStep(TOUR_STEPS[0]!.stop);
     card.current?.focus();
   }, []);
-  const current = TOUR_STEPS[step]!;
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (choice) see(choice, looks[choice]);
+  }, [choice]);
+  // A choice step brings its subject up to the top of the window, clear of
+  // the banners above it, once the page it lives on has rendered, and again
+  // when the look changes it. Two frames: the app scrolls a newly opened page
+  // to its top in the same commit.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!choice) return;
+    let frame = requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+      frame = requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        const el = document.querySelector(current.target);
+        if (el)
+          window.scrollTo({
+            top: el.getBoundingClientRect().top + window.scrollY - 16,
+          });
+      });
+    });
+    return () => cancelAnimationFrame(frame);
+  }, [step, choice && looks[choice]]);
+  const untried = choice ? untriedOptions(choice, tried[choice]) : [];
   const last = step === TOUR_STEPS.length - 1;
   return (
-    <aside
-      ref={card}
-      tabIndex={-1}
-      className="returning-tour"
-      aria-label="Introduction to Event Clock"
-    >
-      {step === 0 && intro && (
-        <p className="tour-intro">
-          {intro === "returning"
-            ? "Welcome back. A little has moved, so here's a short tour before you carry on. Your games, routines and progress are all still here."
-            : "Welcome to Event Clock. Here's a short tour before you start."}
+    <>
+      <TourSpotlight target={current.target} dim={!closable} />
+      <aside
+        ref={card}
+        tabIndex={-1}
+        className={choice ? "returning-tour docked" : "returning-tour"}
+        aria-label="Introduction to Event Clock"
+      >
+        {step === 0 && intro && (
+          <p className="tour-intro">
+            {intro === "returning"
+              ? "Welcome back. A little has moved, so here's a short tour before you carry on. Your games, routines and progress are all still here."
+              : "Welcome to Event Clock. Here's a short tour before you start."}
+          </p>
+        )}
+        <p className="tour-step">
+          {step + 1} of {TOUR_STEPS.length}
         </p>
-      )}
-      <p className="tour-step">
-        {step + 1} of {TOUR_STEPS.length}
-      </p>
-      <h2>{current.title}</h2>
-      <p>{current.body}</p>
-      {current.choice && (
-        <div className="tour-choice" role="group" aria-label={current.title}>
-          {CHOICES[current.choice].map((option) => (
-            <button
-              key={option.value}
-              type="button"
-              aria-pressed={looks[current.choice!] === option.value}
-              onClick={() => onLook({ [current.choice!]: option.value })}
-            >
-              <strong>{option.label}</strong>
-              <small>{option.note}</small>
+        <h2>{current.title}</h2>
+        <p>{current.body}</p>
+        {choice && (
+          <div className="tour-choice" role="group" aria-label={current.title}>
+            {CHOICES[choice].map((option) => (
+              <button
+                key={option.value}
+                type="button"
+                aria-pressed={looks[choice] === option.value}
+                onClick={() => {
+                  see(choice, option.value);
+                  onLook({ [choice]: option.value });
+                }}
+              >
+                <strong>{option.label}</strong>
+                <small>{option.note}</small>
+              </button>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        )}
+        {choice && (
+          <p className="tour-later" aria-live="polite">
+            {untried.length
+              ? `Try ${untried.map((o) => o.label).join(" and ")} to continue.`
+              : "You can change this later in Settings → Appearance."}
+          </p>
+        )}
+        <div className="tour-actions">
+          <button
+            type="button"
+            className="commit"
+            disabled={untried.length > 0}
+            onClick={() => (last ? onFinish() : go(step + 1))}
+          >
+            {last ? "Finish tour" : "Continue"}
+          </button>
+          {step > 0 && (
+            <button type="button" className="btn" onClick={() => go(step - 1)}>
+              Back
             </button>
-          ))}
+          )}
+          {closable && (
+            <button type="button" className="tour-skip" onClick={onFinish}>
+              Close tour
+            </button>
+          )}
         </div>
-      )}
-      {current.choice && (
-        <p className="tour-later">
-          You can change this later in Settings → Appearance.
-        </p>
-      )}
-      <div className="tour-actions">
-        <button
-          type="button"
-          className="commit"
-          onClick={() => (last ? onFinish() : go(step + 1))}
-        >
-          {last ? "Finish tour" : "Continue"}
-        </button>
-        {step > 0 && (
-          <button type="button" className="btn" onClick={() => go(step - 1)}>
-            Back
-          </button>
-        )}
-        {closable && (
-          <button type="button" className="tour-skip" onClick={onFinish}>
-            Close tour
-          </button>
-        )}
-      </div>
-    </aside>
+      </aside>
+    </>
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/client/redesign.css b/src/client/redesign.css
index 74bf0dc..3b23027 100644
--- a/src/client/redesign.css
+++ b/src/client/redesign.css
@@ -1314,7 +1314,8 @@ textarea {
   font: 700 22px/1 var(--font-display);
   letter-spacing: -0.025em;
   text-transform: none;
-  padding: 0;  top: 0;
+  padding: 0;
+  top: 0;
 }
 :root[data-interface="relaxed"] .app-navigation {
   gap: 6px;
@@ -2660,14 +2661,26 @@ dialog.archive-detail {
   display: block;
   height: 7px;
   border-radius: 1px;
-  background: linear-gradient(90deg, var(--color-soon) 0 18%, var(--color-hairline) 18%);
+  background: linear-gradient(
+    90deg,
+    var(--color-soon) 0 18%,
+    var(--color-hairline) 18%
+  );
 }
 .vprev.list i:nth-child(2) {
-  background: linear-gradient(90deg, var(--color-near) 0 46%, var(--color-hairline) 46%);
+  background: linear-gradient(
+    90deg,
+    var(--color-near) 0 46%,
+    var(--color-hairline) 46%
+  );
   width: 86%;
 }
 .vprev.list i:nth-child(3) {
-  background: linear-gradient(90deg, var(--color-calm) 0 70%, var(--color-hairline) 70%);
+  background: linear-gradient(
+    90deg,
+    var(--color-calm) 0 70%,
+    var(--color-hairline) 70%
+  );
   width: 72%;
 }
 .vprev.tl {
@@ -5366,7 +5379,7 @@ button.mark {
   inset: 0;
   z-index: 80;
   pointer-events: none;
-  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-ground) 30%, transparent);
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-ground) 62%, transparent);
 }
 .returning-tour {
   position: fixed;
@@ -5437,6 +5450,52 @@ button.mark {
   color: var(--color-muted);
   font-size: 12px;
 }
+/* The step's subject, ringed. While the tour is forced, its shadow is the
+   scrim: the page dims everywhere but here. */
+.tour-spotlight {
+  position: fixed;
+  z-index: 80;
+  pointer-events: none;
+  border-radius: 12px;
+  box-shadow: 0 0 0 2px var(--color-near);
+  transition:
+    left 220ms ease,
+    top 220ms ease,
+    width 220ms ease,
+    height 220ms ease;
+}
+.tour-spotlight.dim {
+  box-shadow:
+    0 0 0 2px var(--color-near),
+    0 0 0 100vmax color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-ground) 62%, transparent);
+}
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+  .tour-spotlight {
+    transition: none;
+  }
+}
+.returning-tour .tour-actions .commit:disabled {
+  opacity: 0.45;
+  cursor: not-allowed;
+}
+/* A step that asks the reader to compare looks moves its card aside, so the
+   page it changes has the window to itself. */
+@media (min-width: 1100px) {
+  .returning-tour.docked {
+    left: auto;
+    right: 24px;
+    bottom: auto;
+    top: 50%;
+    transform: translateY(-50%);
+    width: 340px;
+  }
+  .returning-tour.docked .tour-choice {
+    grid-template-columns: 1fr;
+  }
+  .reader-ui[data-touring]:has(.returning-tour.docked) {
+    padding-right: 380px;
+  }
+}
 @media (max-width: 700px) {
   .returning-tour {
     bottom: var(--edge);
@@ -5445,4 +5504,19 @@ button.mark {
   .returning-tour .tour-choice {
     grid-template-columns: 1fr;
   }
+  /* On a phone the card stays at the foot, so a comparing step keeps it
+     short: the options side by side, by name only, leaving the page room. */
+  .returning-tour.docked {
+    padding: 14px 16px 12px;
+  }
+  .returning-tour.docked h2 {
+    font-size: 18px;
+  }
+  .returning-tour.docked .tour-choice {
+    grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
+    margin-top: 10px;
+  }
+  .returning-tour.docked .tour-choice small {
+    display: none;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/test/redesign-onboarding.test.tsx b/test/redesign-onboarding.test.tsx
index 807f223..9105440 100644
--- a/test/redesign-onboarding.test.tsx
+++ b/test/redesign-onboarding.test.tsx
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {
   TOUR_DONE,
   TOUR_STEPS,
   tourMode,
+  untriedOptions,
 } from "../src/client/components/redesign/ReturningTour.tsx";
 import { setupReader } from "../src/client/state/reader/onboarding.ts";
 
@@ -65,6 +66,22 @@ test("the tour lets the reader try both layouts and both Timeline looks", () =>
     ["timeline", "timelineLook"],
   ]);
 });
+test("a choice holds Continue until both options have been tried", () => {
+  expect(
+    untriedOptions("interface", ["structured"]).map((o) => o.label),
+  ).toEqual(["Relaxed"]);
+  expect(untriedOptions("interface", ["structured", "relaxed"])).toEqual([]);
+  expect(untriedOptions("timelineLook", []).map((o) => o.value)).toEqual([
+    "new",
+    "classic",
+  ]);
+});
+test("every step highlights what it is about", () => {
+  for (const step of TOUR_STEPS) expect(step.target).toBeTruthy();
+  expect(TOUR_STEPS.find((s) => s.stop === "routines")!.target).toBe(
+    '[data-page="routines"]',
+  );
+});
 test("the tour introduces the Timeline right after the Checklist, and codes", () => {
   const stops = TOUR_STEPS.map((s) => s.stop);
   expect(stops.indexOf("timeline")).toBe(stops.lastIndexOf("soon") + 1);