diff --git a/backend/app/services/article_service.py b/backend/app/services/article_service.py
index 4ad4763..8936ce2 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/article_service.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/article_service.py
@@ -81,14 +81,22 @@ def record_slug(db: Session, article: Article) -> None:
 
 
 def resolve_slug(db: Session, slug: str) -> Article | None:
-    """Find an article by its current slug, or by one it used to have."""
-    slug = (slug or "").strip().lower()
-    if not slug:
+    """Find an article by numeric id, by its current slug, or by an old one.
+
+    Cross-references in prose are written `[[403|urethritis]]` — by id, because
+    an id survives a rename and a slug does not. So whatever resolves a
+    reference has to accept both: looking only at slugs made every one of those
+    links dead, with no preview and a 404 behind it.
+    """
+    reference = (slug or "").strip().lower()
+    if not reference:
         return None
-    article = db.query(Article).filter(Article.slug == slug).first()
+    if reference.isdigit():
+        return db.get(Article, int(reference))
+    article = db.query(Article).filter(Article.slug == reference).first()
     if article:
         return article
-    historical = db.query(ArticleSlug).filter(ArticleSlug.slug == slug).first()
+    historical = db.query(ArticleSlug).filter(ArticleSlug.slug == reference).first()
     return db.get(Article, historical.article_id) if historical else None
 
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ArticleLink.jsx b/frontend/src/components/ArticleLink.jsx
index e40df7f..b920d55 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ArticleLink.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ArticleLink.jsx
@@ -44,7 +44,10 @@ export default function ArticleLink({ slug, children, className = '' }) {
   const timer = useRef(null)
   const anchor = useRef(null)
   const split = useSplitView()
-  const href = `/articles/s/${slug}`
+  // A cross-reference written by id addresses the article directly; one
+  // written by slug goes through the slug route, which also resolves the
+  // names an article used to have.
+  const href = /^\d+$/.test(slug) ? `/articles/${slug}` : `/articles/s/${slug}`
 
   useEffect(() => () => clearTimeout(timer.current), [])
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ArticleReader.jsx b/frontend/src/components/ArticleReader.jsx
index 02ac6b2..cac5b50 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ArticleReader.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ArticleReader.jsx
@@ -104,6 +104,10 @@ export default function ArticleReader({ article, activeSection = '', onOpenSecti
     : {})
   const allOpen = allSections.length > 0 && allSections.every(sec => openIds[sec.id])
 
+  // One top-level section with nothing under it is the whole view, so it is
+  // shown as prose rather than as a contents page of one entry.
+  const soleSection = topSections.length === 1 && allSections.length === 1 ? topSections[0] : null
+
   const renderSection = (sec, depth) => {
     const isOpen = !!openIds[sec.id]
     const kids = kidsOf(sec.id)
@@ -141,6 +145,8 @@ export default function ArticleReader({ article, activeSection = '', onOpenSecti
           <span aria-hidden="true">{railOpen ? '‹' : '›'}</span>
         </button>
         <h4>{article.title}</h4>
+        {/* A contents list of one entry is not a contents list. */}
+        {!soleSection && (
         <ul className="atoc">
           {topSections.map(sec => (
             <li key={sec.id}>
@@ -165,6 +171,7 @@ export default function ArticleReader({ article, activeSection = '', onOpenSecti
             </li>
           ))}
         </ul>
+        )}
       </aside>
       <Content className="article-content">
         {article.updated_at && (
@@ -194,14 +201,22 @@ export default function ArticleReader({ article, activeSection = '', onOpenSecti
               ))}
             </div>
           )}
-          {allSections.length > 0 && (
+          {allSections.length > 0 && !soleSection && (
             <button type="button" className="btn btn-secondary btn-sm" onClick={() => setAll(!allOpen)}>
               {allOpen ? 'Collapse all' : 'Expand all'}
             </button>
           )}
         </div>
         <div className="asec-list">
-          {topSections.map(sec => renderSection(sec, 0))}
+          {/* A view with one section does not need a heading over it, or a
+              control to collapse the only thing there is. The tab already
+              names it — "Short" then a heading reading "In short" says the
+              same word twice and hides the content behind a chevron. */}
+          {soleSection ? (
+            <div className="asec-sole" id={`section-${idPrefix}${soleSection.id}`}>
+              <Markdown>{soleSection.content}</Markdown>
+            </div>
+          ) : topSections.map(sec => renderSection(sec, 0))}
         </div>
 
         {(article.references || []).length > 0 && (
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/CategoryColumns.css b/frontend/src/components/CategoryColumns.css
index 8363c2a..706d858 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/CategoryColumns.css
+++ b/frontend/src/components/CategoryColumns.css
@@ -109,3 +109,8 @@
   background: #fef3c7; color: #92400e;
 }
 .cc-empty { padding: 14px; font-size: 0.83rem; color: var(--text-muted); }
+
+/* Never wider than what contains it: a flex or grid item defaults to
+   min-width:auto, which lets a scroll container size to its content instead of
+   its box — and then it is the page that scrolls, not the strip. */
+.cc-wrap, .cc-columns { max-width: 100%; min-width: 0; }
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/RichText.test.jsx b/frontend/src/components/RichText.test.jsx
index 9f6bbfe..c30b25e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/RichText.test.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/RichText.test.jsx
@@ -56,8 +56,11 @@ describe('rendered prose', () => {
 
   it('turns a cross-reference into a preview link when asked', () => {
     mount({ value: 'See [[7|Febrile seizures]] for more.', linkArticles: true })
+    // By id, so the link addresses the article directly. It used to build
+    // /articles/s/7 — the slug route — where "7" is not a slug, so every
+    // cross-reference in the corpus was a dead link with no preview.
     expect(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Febrile seizures' }))
-      .toHaveAttribute('href', '/articles/s/7')
+      .toHaveAttribute('href', '/articles/7')
   })
 })
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/index.css b/frontend/src/index.css
index eaebf1b..5e0e1fe 100644
--- a/frontend/src/index.css
+++ b/frontend/src/index.css
@@ -107,9 +107,15 @@ body {
   color: var(--text);
   line-height: 1.6;
   transition: background 0.25s, color 0.25s;
-  overflow-x: hidden;
 }
 
+/* Both, not just body: with `overflow-x: hidden` on body alone the browser can
+   still propagate the overflow to the viewport, and one element a few pixels
+   too wide then scrolls the whole page sideways — which is why the navbar
+   could be found clipped mid-word at its left edge. Anything genuinely wider
+   than the window scrolls inside its own box instead. */
+html, body { overflow-x: hidden; max-width: 100%; }
+
 /* ── Layout ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 .container { max-width: 1200px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 28px; }
 
@@ -815,7 +821,11 @@ body {
 .exam-switcher select {
   background: var(--input-bg); color: var(--text);
   border: 1px solid var(--border); border-radius: 8px;
-  padding: 6px 10px; font-size: .8rem; font-weight: 600; max-width: 220px; cursor: pointer;
+  padding: 6px 10px; font-size: .8rem; font-weight: 600; cursor: pointer;
+  /* Truncate with an ellipsis rather than clipping: "Pediatrics Boards (2948)"
+     is wider than the old 220px cap, and a name cut mid-word reads as a
+     rendering fault rather than as a name too long to show. */
+  max-width: min(260px, 32vw); overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;
 }
 .exam-switcher select:hover { border-color: var(--primary); color: var(--primary); }
 .exam-switcher select option { color: var(--text); background: var(--card-bg); }
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/ArticleSplitView.test.jsx b/frontend/src/pages/ArticleSplitView.test.jsx
index b412451..9ea4a35 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/ArticleSplitView.test.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/ArticleSplitView.test.jsx
@@ -78,11 +78,11 @@ describe('reading a cross-reference beside the article', () => {
     await openSplit('meningitis')
     const pane = await screen.findByRole('region', { name: 'Split view: Meningitis' })
 
-    // Contents rail and collapsible heading both, the same as the page behind
-    // it. A single-section view opens on arrival rather than showing a heading
-    // over a blank space.
-    expect(within(pane.querySelector('.article-sections')).getByRole('button', { name: 'Signs' })).toBeInTheDocument()
+    // The pane is the same reader as the page behind it — so a view of one
+    // section is shown as prose there too, with no heading repeating the view
+    // and no contents list of a single entry.
     expect(within(pane).getByText('Neck stiffness')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(within(pane).queryByRole('button', { name: 'Signs' })).not.toBeInTheDocument()
   })
 
   it('closing it gives the page back its single column', async () => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.css b/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.css
index 32922fe..11ee83e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.css
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.css
@@ -222,3 +222,7 @@
   .asec-controls { gap: 8px; }
   .aview { padding: 6px 10px; font-size: 0.79rem; }
 }
+
+/* A view that is one section is shown as prose: no heading repeating the tab
+   above it, no chevron hiding the only thing there is to read. */
+.asec-sole { padding-top: 4px; }
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.test.jsx b/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.test.jsx
index c5e0989..f96a962 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.test.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/ArticlesPage.test.jsx
@@ -83,16 +83,15 @@ describe('topic reading', () => {
     expect(await screen.findByRole('heading', { level: 1, name: /Febrile seizures/ })).toBeInTheDocument()
     expect(screen.getByRole('navigation', { name: 'Breadcrumb' })).toHaveTextContent('Neurology')
     expect(screen.getByText('Introduction markdown')).toBeInTheDocument()
-    // A view of one section is not a contents page, so it opens: a lone
-    // heading over a blank space reads as a view with nothing in it.
-    expect(screen.getByRole('heading', { name: /Initial workup/ })).toBeInTheDocument()
+    // A view of one section is the prose, not a contents page of one entry.
+    // The tab already names the view — "Short" over a heading reading "In
+    // short" says the same word twice and hides the only content behind a
+    // chevron.
     expect(screen.getByText('Section markdown')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('heading', { name: /Initial workup/ })).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('button', { name: /Expand all|Collapse all/ })).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(document.querySelector('.article-sections .atoc')).toBeNull()
     expect(screen.queryByRole('dialog')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
-
-    // The contents rail still marks the section it jumps to.
-    const toc = document.querySelector('.article-sections')
-    await userEvent.click(within(toc).getByRole('button', { name: 'Initial workup' }))
-    expect(within(toc).getByRole('button', { name: 'Initial workup' })).toHaveClass('active')
     // Reading a topic offers a test; it never prints the stem, answer or explanation.
     expect(await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Practise this topic' })).toBeInTheDocument()
     expect(screen.queryByText('Linked question text')).not.toBeInTheDocument()