diff --git a/src/client/App.tsx b/src/client/App.tsx
index 84712d5..6284eda 100644
--- a/src/client/App.tsx
+++ b/src/client/App.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { NextUp } from "./components/NextUp.tsx";
 import { Timeline } from "./components/Timeline.tsx";
 import { Welcome } from "./components/Welcome.tsx";
 import { Colophon } from "./components/Colophon.tsx";
+import { Legend } from "./components/Legend.tsx";
 import { useCompletions } from "./state/useCompletions.ts";
 import { usePrefs } from "./state/usePrefs.ts";
 import { clockFor, DAY, endingSoonestFirst, formatRemaining } from "../shared/time.ts";
@@ -189,6 +190,7 @@ export function App() {
 
           {live.length > 0 && (
             <Section
+              legend
               title="Running now"
               hint={
                 live.length > 1
@@ -284,10 +286,12 @@ function Shell({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
 function Section({
   title,
   hint,
+  legend,
   children,
 }: {
   title: string;
   hint?: string | undefined;
+  legend?: boolean | undefined;
   children: React.ReactNode;
 }) {
   return (
@@ -296,6 +300,7 @@ function Section({
         <h2 className="eyebrow">{title}</h2>
         {hint !== undefined && <p className="text-xs text-faint">{hint}</p>}
       </div>
+      {legend === true && <Legend />}
       <ul className="border-t border-hairline">{children}</ul>
     </section>
   );
diff --git a/src/client/components/EventRow.tsx b/src/client/components/EventRow.tsx
index d5115f8..ec62969 100644
--- a/src/client/components/EventRow.tsx
+++ b/src/client/components/EventRow.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { gameMeta } from "../../shared/games.ts";
 import type { GachaEvent } from "../../shared/schema.ts";
-import { formatRemaining, type EventClock } from "../../shared/time.ts";
+import {
+  formatRemaining,
+  windowCaption,
+  type EventClock,
+} from "../../shared/time.ts";
 import { Meter, URGENCY_COLOR } from "./Meter.tsx";
 
 export interface RowEvent {
@@ -20,6 +24,8 @@ export function EventRow({ row, completed, onToggle, onOpen }: EventRowProps) {
   const game = gameMeta(event.game);
   const heat = URGENCY_COLOR[clock.urgency];
 
+  const caption = windowCaption(clock, Date.now());
+
   const countdown = clock.upcoming
     ? `starts in ${formatRemaining(clock.startsMs - Date.now())}`
     : clock.msRemaining === null
@@ -84,8 +90,13 @@ export function EventRow({ row, completed, onToggle, onOpen }: EventRowProps) {
             <Meter
               progress={clock.upcoming ? 1 : clock.progress}
               urgency={clock.urgency}
-              label={`${event.title}: ${countdown}`}
+              label={`${event.title}: ${caption}`}
             />
+            {/* Says what the bar is a proportion of. Without this the ticks
+                are a shape the reader has to guess the meaning of. */}
+            <p className="mt-1.5 text-[0.6875rem] leading-none text-faint">
+              {caption}
+            </p>
           </div>
         </div>
 
diff --git a/src/client/components/Legend.tsx b/src/client/components/Legend.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d617eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client/components/Legend.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import type { Urgency } from "../../shared/time.ts";
+import { URGENCY_COLOR } from "./Meter.tsx";
+
+const STEPS: Array<{ urgency: Urgency; label: string }> = [
+  { urgency: "calm", label: "a week+" },
+  { urgency: "near", label: "under a week" },
+  { urgency: "soon", label: "under 3 days" },
+  { urgency: "critical", label: "under a day" },
+];
+
+/**
+ * What the bars and colours mean, said once.
+ *
+ * The meter encodes two things at once, and neither is guessable from looking
+ * at it. Every row now carries a plain caption ("9 of 12 days left"), which
+ * explains the bar; this explains the colour, which no per-row text can.
+ *
+ * Shown once above the list rather than repeated per row — a legend that
+ * appears 50 times is noise, not help.
+ */
+export function Legend() {
+  return (
+    <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-4 gap-y-2 px-4 pb-3">
+      <p className="flex items-center gap-2 text-[0.6875rem] leading-none text-faint">
+        <span aria-hidden className="flex gap-[2px]">
+          {Array.from({ length: 8 }, (_, i) => (
+            <span
+              key={i}
+              className="h-2.5 w-[3px] rounded-[1px]"
+              style={{
+                background:
+                  i < 5 ? URGENCY_COLOR.near : "var(--color-hairline)",
+              }}
+            />
+          ))}
+        </span>
+        bars = time left
+      </p>
+
+      <p className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-x-2.5 gap-y-1 text-[0.6875rem] leading-none text-faint">
+        <span>colour = ends in</span>
+        {STEPS.map((step) => (
+          <span key={step.urgency} className="flex items-center gap-1">
+            <span
+              aria-hidden
+              className="size-2 rounded-[1px]"
+              style={{ background: URGENCY_COLOR[step.urgency] }}
+            />
+            {step.label}
+          </span>
+        ))}
+      </p>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/time.ts b/src/shared/time.ts
index 06bb5eb..8cc338d 100644
--- a/src/shared/time.ts
+++ b/src/shared/time.ts
@@ -140,3 +140,39 @@ export function endingSoonestFirst(
   if (b.clock.msRemaining === null) return -1;
   return a.clock.msRemaining - b.clock.msRemaining;
 }
+
+/**
+ * A plain-language caption for an event's window.
+ *
+ * The meter shows a proportion; this says what the proportion is *of*. Without
+ * it a reader has to infer that ticks mean remaining time, which is exactly the
+ * kind of "obvious to the author" encoding that leaves everyone else guessing.
+ */
+export function windowCaption(clock: EventClock, now: number): string {
+  const on = (ms: number) =>
+    new Date(ms).toLocaleDateString(undefined, { day: "numeric", month: "short" });
+
+  if (clock.upcoming) {
+    return clock.endsMs === null
+      ? `starts ${on(clock.startsMs)}`
+      : `${on(clock.startsMs)} – ${on(clock.endsMs)} · not started yet`;
+  }
+
+  if (clock.endsMs === null) {
+    return `started ${on(clock.startsMs)} · no end date announced`;
+  }
+
+  const totalDays = Math.max(
+    1,
+    Math.round((clock.endsMs - clock.startsMs) / DAY),
+  );
+  const leftMs = Math.max(0, clock.endsMs - now);
+  const leftDays = Math.ceil(leftMs / DAY);
+
+  const left =
+    leftMs < DAY
+      ? `${Math.max(1, Math.floor(leftMs / HOUR))} of ${totalDays * 24} hours left`
+      : `${leftDays} of ${totalDays} days left`;
+
+  return `${on(clock.startsMs)} – ${on(clock.endsMs)} · ${left}`;
+}