diff --git a/apps/game/src/components/online/invite-link-card.tsx b/apps/game/src/components/online/invite-link-card.tsx
index cf70180..cd3c58c 100644
--- a/apps/game/src/components/online/invite-link-card.tsx
+++ b/apps/game/src/components/online/invite-link-card.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { cn } from "@repo/nativ/utils"
 import { useMutation } from "@tanstack/react-query"
-import { useId, useState } from "react"
+import { useEffect, useId, useRef, useState } from "react"
 import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next"
 import {
   CheckIcon,
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ export function InviteLinkCard({
   const [status, setStatus] = useState<HandOffStatus>("idle")
   const [justCopied, setJustCopied] = useState(false)
   const [canShare] = useState(canShareLinks)
+  const copiedTimer = useRef<number>(undefined)
+
+  //the check outlives the tap by two seconds, and the sheet may not
+  useEffect(() => () => window.clearTimeout(copiedTimer.current), [])
 
   const url = create.data?.url
   const isMade = Boolean(url)
@@ -75,7 +79,11 @@ export function InviteLinkCard({
     setStatus(next)
     if (next !== "copied") return
     setJustCopied(true)
-    window.setTimeout(() => setJustCopied(false), COPIED_MS)
+    window.clearTimeout(copiedTimer.current)
+    copiedTimer.current = window.setTimeout(
+      () => setJustCopied(false),
+      COPIED_MS,
+    )
   }
 
   async function handleShare() {
diff --git a/apps/game/src/components/online/recent-opponents.tsx b/apps/game/src/components/online/recent-opponents.tsx
index fe699ff..0146d0f 100644
--- a/apps/game/src/components/online/recent-opponents.tsx
+++ b/apps/game/src/components/online/recent-opponents.tsx
@@ -126,7 +126,10 @@ function OpponentChip({
         className="peer absolute inset-0 z-10 size-full cursor-[inherit] appearance-none rounded-xl opacity-0"
       />
 
+      {/* The face is for the eye: its initial read first would put a stray
+          letter in front of the name in the chip's accessible name. */}
       <span
+        aria-hidden="true"
         className={cn(
           "rounded-[11px] transition-shadow peer-focus-visible:shadow-[0_0_0_2px_var(--color-surface),0_0_0_4px_var(--color-brand)]",
           checked &&
diff --git a/apps/game/src/hooks/use-online-home.ts b/apps/game/src/hooks/use-online-home.ts
index 020f3f7..4479403 100644
--- a/apps/game/src/hooks/use-online-home.ts
+++ b/apps/game/src/hooks/use-online-home.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import { useApiError } from "@/hooks/use-api-error"
 import { useAuth } from "@/providers/auth-provider"
 import { useRealtime } from "@/providers/realtime-provider"
 import type { RecentOpponent } from "@/utils/recent-opponents"
-import { recentOpponentsOf } from "@/utils/recent-opponents"
+import { recentOpponentsWhenReady } from "@/utils/recent-opponents"
 import type { SyncState } from "@/utils/sync-state"
 import { syncStateOf } from "@/utils/sync-state"
 
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@ export type OnlineHome = {
   isSending: boolean
   /**
    * The people this player has played lately, for the composer to offer by
-   * face. `undefined` while the games are still on their way; empty when there
-   * are none, or when the games could not be read.
+   * face. `undefined` until both game lists are in, so the first chips shown
+   * are the final ones; empty when there are none, or when the games could not
+   * be read.
    */
   recentOpponents: RecentOpponent[] | undefined
   /** How current the lists are. See `SyncState`. */
@@ -134,19 +135,24 @@ export function useOnlineHome(queryClient: QueryClient): OnlineHome {
     }
   }, [invites.data, myUserId])
 
-  //the same two lists, read for names. a list that failed offers nobody
-  //rather than a spinner that never ends: typing a name works without it
+  //the same two lists, read for names, once both are in so the chips shown
+  //first are the final ones. a list that failed offers what is left rather
+  //than a spinner that never ends: typing a name works without it
   const activeData = activeGames.data
   const finishedData = finishedGames.data
   const gamesFailed = Boolean(activeGames.error || finishedGames.error)
-  const recentOpponents = useMemo(() => {
-    if (!myUserId) return undefined
-    if (!activeData && !finishedData) return gamesFailed ? [] : undefined
-    return recentOpponentsOf(
-      [...(activeData ?? []), ...(finishedData ?? [])],
-      myUserId,
-    )
-  }, [activeData, finishedData, gamesFailed, myUserId])
+  const recentOpponents = useMemo(
+    () =>
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+        {
+          activeGames: activeData,
+          finishedGames: finishedData,
+          failed: gamesFailed,
+        },
+        myUserId,
+      ),
+    [activeData, finishedData, gamesFailed, myUserId],
+  )
 
   //one slot for the whole screen: only one of these can have just failed, and
   //four error lines stacked down the page would be four ways of saying it
diff --git a/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.test.ts b/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.test.ts
index 3ada0a1..b968a8c 100644
--- a/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.test.ts
+++ b/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest"
 import type { Game } from "@/data/online/queries"
-import { recentOpponentsOf } from "@/utils/recent-opponents"
+import {
+  recentOpponentsOf,
+  recentOpponentsWhenReady,
+} from "@/utils/recent-opponents"
 
 const ME = "me"
 
@@ -105,3 +108,63 @@ describe("recentOpponentsOf", () => {
     ).toEqual(["Ana", "Bia", "Rui"])
   })
 })
+
+describe("recentOpponentsWhenReady", () => {
+  const active = [gameAgainst("Ana", 300, { status: "active" })]
+  const finished = [gameAgainst("Bia", 200)]
+
+  it("offers nothing yet while either list is still on its way", () => {
+    const sources = { activeGames: active, finishedGames: undefined }
+    expect(
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady({ ...sources, failed: false }, ME),
+    ).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+        { activeGames: undefined, finishedGames: finished, failed: false },
+        ME,
+      ),
+    ).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+        {
+          activeGames: undefined,
+          finishedGames: undefined,
+          failed: false,
+        },
+        ME,
+      ),
+    ).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  it("reads the chips once, from both lists, when both are in", () => {
+    const names = recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+      { activeGames: active, finishedGames: finished, failed: false },
+      ME,
+    )?.map((opponent) => opponent.name)
+    expect(names).toEqual(["Ana", "Bia"])
+  })
+
+  it("settles with what is in hand when a list failed", () => {
+    expect(
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+        { activeGames: active, finishedGames: undefined, failed: true },
+        ME,
+      )?.map((opponent) => opponent.name),
+    ).toEqual(["Ana"])
+    expect(
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+        { activeGames: undefined, finishedGames: undefined, failed: true },
+        ME,
+      ),
+    ).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it("waits for a signed-in player", () => {
+    expect(
+      recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+        { activeGames: active, finishedGames: finished, failed: false },
+        undefined,
+      ),
+    ).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.ts b/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.ts
index 3ce8384..9f21c6f 100644
--- a/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.ts
+++ b/apps/game/src/utils/recent-opponents.ts
@@ -45,3 +45,34 @@ export function recentOpponentsOf(
     .sort((first, second) => second.lastPlayedAt - first.lastPlayedAt)
     .slice(0, RECENT_OPPONENT_LIMIT)
 }
+
+/** What the hub holds of the two lists the chips are read from. */
+export type OpponentSources = {
+  /** `undefined` until the list is in. */
+  activeGames: Game[] | undefined
+  finishedGames: Game[] | undefined
+  /** Either list failed to load. */
+  failed: boolean
+}
+
+/**
+ * The chips, once they are final.
+ *
+ * The two lists arrive separately, and reading names off whichever came first
+ * shows a row that reorders or swaps a face when the other lands. So the row
+ * waits for both (`undefined`, which the composer draws as empty chips). A
+ * list that failed settles it with what is in hand, nobody if that is nothing:
+ * typing a name works without the chips.
+ */
+export function recentOpponentsWhenReady(
+  { activeGames, finishedGames, failed }: OpponentSources,
+  myUserId: string | undefined,
+): RecentOpponent[] | undefined {
+  if (!myUserId) return undefined
+  const bothIn = activeGames !== undefined && finishedGames !== undefined
+  if (!bothIn && !failed) return undefined
+  return recentOpponentsOf(
+    [...(activeGames ?? []), ...(finishedGames ?? [])],
+    myUserId,
+  )
+}
diff --git a/e2e/invite-composer.spec.ts b/e2e/invite-composer.spec.ts
index ce448c5..7400c55 100644
--- a/e2e/invite-composer.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/invite-composer.spec.ts
@@ -137,7 +137,10 @@ for (const viewport of FITTING_PHONES) {
       await hostPage.setViewportSize(viewport)
       const composer = await openComposer(hostPage)
 
-      const chip = composer.getByRole("radio", { name: guestName })
+      const chip = composer.getByRole("radio", {
+        name: guestName,
+        exact: true,
+      })
       await expect(composer.getByText("Play again with")).toBeVisible()
       await expect(chip).toBeVisible()
       await expect(
@@ -165,7 +168,9 @@ for (const viewport of FITTING_PHONES) {
       // Ask them again while that invite is still out: the refusal is spoken
       // in the line that was reserved for it, and the picked chip is at fault.
       const again = await openComposer(hostPage)
-      await again.getByRole("radio", { name: guestName }).check()
+      await again
+        .getByRole("radio", { name: guestName, exact: true })
+        .check()
       await expectNoLayoutShift(composer, () => send.click(), {
         until: () => expect(spokenAlert(composer)).toBeVisible(),
       })
@@ -370,7 +375,10 @@ test.describe("on a 375x667 phone", () => {
     await hostPage.setViewportSize({ width: 375, height: 667 })
     const composer = await openComposer(hostPage)
     const field = composer.getByLabel("Someone else", { exact: true })
-    const chip = composer.getByRole("radio", { name: guestName })
+    const chip = composer.getByRole("radio", {
+      name: guestName,
+      exact: true,
+    })
 
     await field.fill(guestName.toUpperCase(), { timeout: 5000 })
     await expect(chip).toBeChecked({ timeout: 5000 })