diff --git a/tools/mj-queue.mjs b/tools/mj-queue.mjs
index 0bcf735..a7d34c4 100644
--- a/tools/mj-queue.mjs
+++ b/tools/mj-queue.mjs
@@ -134,12 +134,17 @@ const armourWords = (n, era = "antique") => bandOf(Number(n) || 0, [
 function negativesFor(spec, era, isPerson) {
   if (isPerson) return [];
   const out = [];
-  if (era !== "future" && era !== "anomalous") {
-    out.push("worn armour", "plate armour", "armour plating", "machinery", "robot", "mecha");
-  }
+  /* SHORT, deliberately. The base style already carries two negatives, and this project
+     has a recorded failure where prompts with ten or more --no terms never returned a
+     grid at all while the same prompt with four came back in two minutes — a stall that
+     is indistinguishable from a moderation refusal and so gets misdiagnosed every time.
+     The first version of this function pushed six armour terms and three weapon terms,
+     which took the gryphon to eight and into that band. Three terms and one; steer with
+     the prompt, which is what the armourWords rewrite above is for. */
+  if (era !== "future" && era !== "anomalous") out.push("plate armour", "machinery", "robot");
   // "no weapon — it uses its own limbs" is already in the prompt, positively. An animal
   // is still handed a spear often enough to be worth stating twice.
-  if (!(spec.weapons ?? []).length) out.push("weapons", "swords", "armour straps");
+  if (!(spec.weapons ?? []).length) out.push("weapons");
   return out;
 }
 
@@ -311,6 +316,21 @@ export function promptFor(spec, kind = "npc") {
   const base = expand(clauses.join(", ").replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim());
   const extra = negativesFor(spec, era, isPerson);
   const prompt = extra.length ? `${base}, ${extra.join(", ")}` : base;
+
+  /* A prompt with too many --no terms does not fail, which is the problem: it never
+     returns a grid at all, and a job that never arrives looks exactly like a moderation
+     refusal — those are ephemeral and never appear in the channel either. The recorded
+     case cost twenty minutes of wondering whether the account was out of fast hours.
+     Refuse to build one, and say which terms, rather than letting it be diagnosed again
+     from scratch. Six is under the observed cliff with room to spare. */
+  const NEGATIVE_CAP = 6;
+  const negatives = (prompt.split("--no ")[1] ?? "").split(",").map(x => x.trim()).filter(Boolean);
+  if (negatives.length > NEGATIVE_CAP) {
+    throw new Error(`${spec.key}: ${negatives.length} --no terms (cap ${NEGATIVE_CAP}) — `
+      + `a long negative list stalls the job silently rather than failing it. `
+      + `Steer in the prompt instead. Terms: ${negatives.join(", ")}`);
+  }
+
   const warnings = BANNED.filter(b => prompt.toLowerCase().includes(b));
   return { prompt, token, warnings };
 }