diff --git a/styles/ringbrp.css b/styles/ringbrp.css
index f06f130..3d61bb8 100644
--- a/styles/ringbrp.css
+++ b/styles/ringbrp.css
@@ -1774,7 +1774,11 @@
     radial-gradient(circle, transparent 0 71px, var(--rb-line) 71px 72px, transparent 72px),
     repeating-linear-gradient(to right,  var(--rb-line) 0 1px, transparent 1px 19px),
     repeating-linear-gradient(to bottom, var(--rb-line) 0 1px, transparent 1px 19px);
-  opacity: .3;
+  /* --rb-line is chosen to give 3.1:1 at full strength; composited at .3 over the void
+     band it falls to 1.44:1, which on a dark table map is not a faint grid, it is no
+     grid. .45 measures 1.80:1 — present as texture, still quiet enough that the amber
+     lock is the only thing competing for attention. */
+  opacity: .45;
   -webkit-mask: radial-gradient(circle, #000 32%, transparent 74%);
           mask: radial-gradient(circle, #000 32%, transparent 74%);
 }
@@ -1829,10 +1833,14 @@
 #pause.paused figcaption {
   font-family: var(--rb-display);
   font-size: 21px;
-  letter-spacing: .4em;
+  /* Michroma is already a wide face, and .4em on top of it set GAME PAUSED at 176px
+     against a 190px field — 93%, running bracket to bracket, so the readout fought the
+     lock for the same width. .22em measures 154px, 81%, which sits inside the brackets
+     and still reads as a tracked instrument label. */
+  letter-spacing: .22em;
   /* letter-spacing adds its gap after the last glyph too; pull the line back by one to
      keep the word optically centred under the field */
-  text-indent: .4em;
+  text-indent: .22em;
   text-transform: uppercase;
   color: var(--rb-yellow);
   line-height: 1.2;