diff --git a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseDelegate.java b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseDelegate.java
index 4dd84cdda..4c476edb3 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseDelegate.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseDelegate.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class DictBrowseDelegate extends DelegateBase
     implements View.OnClickListener {
     private static final String TAG = DictBrowseDelegate.class.getSimpleName();
     private static final String DELIM = ".";
-    private static final boolean SHOW_NUM = false;
+    private static final boolean SHOW_NUM = BuildConfig.DEBUG;
     private static final String[] FAQ_PARAMS = {"filters", "intro"};
 
     private static final String DICT_NAME = "DICT_NAME";
@@ -159,7 +159,8 @@ public class DictBrowseDelegate extends DelegateBase
             String str = XwJNI.di_nthWord( m_diClosure, position, m_browseState.m_delim );
             if ( null != str ) {
                 if ( SHOW_NUM ) {
-                    str = String.format( "%1$5d %2$s", position, str );
+                    // Yep, 7 digits. Polish.
+                    str = String.format( "%1$7d %2$s", 1+position, str );
                 }
                 text.setText( str );
                 text.setOnClickListener( DictBrowseDelegate.this );
diff --git a/xwords4/android/jni/xwjni.c b/xwords4/android/jni/xwjni.c
index 1ebdb218c..7c4630e3c 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/jni/xwjni.c
+++ b/xwords4/android/jni/xwjni.c
@@ -2818,12 +2818,12 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_di_1getIndices
 
 JNIEXPORT jstring JNICALL
 Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_di_1nthWord
-( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jlong closure, jint nn, jstring jdelim )
+( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jlong closure, jint jposn, jstring jdelim )
 {
     jstring result = NULL;
     DI_HEADER(XP_TRUE);
     if ( NULL != data ) {
-        if ( di_getNthWord( data->iter, env, nn, data->depth, &data->idata ) ) {
+        if ( di_getNthWord( data->iter, env, jposn, data->depth, &data->idata ) ) {
             XP_UCHAR buf[64];
             const XP_UCHAR* delim = NULL == jdelim ? NULL
                 : (*env)->GetStringUTFChars( env, jdelim, NULL );
@@ -2832,6 +2832,8 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_di_1nthWord
             if ( !!delim ) {
                 (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars( env, jdelim, delim );
             }
+        } else {
+            XP_LOGFF( "failed to get %dth word", jposn );
         }
     }
     DI_HEADER_END();
diff --git a/xwords4/common/dictiter.c b/xwords4/common/dictiter.c
index 813418ff3..e15cd4c2c 100644
--- a/xwords4/common/dictiter.c
+++ b/xwords4/common/dictiter.c
@@ -604,6 +604,15 @@ formatCurWord( const DictIter* iter, XP_UCHAR* buf, XP_U16 bufLen )
     }
 }
 
+/* static void */
+/* logCurWord( const DictIter* iter, const XP_UCHAR* note ) */
+/* { */
+/*     XP_UCHAR buf[32]; */
+/*     XP_U16 bufLen = VSIZE(buf); */
+/*     formatCurWord( iter, buf, bufLen ); */
+/*     XP_LOGFF( "note: %s; word: %s", note, buf ); */
+/* } */
+
 #endif
 
 typedef struct _FaceTile {
@@ -979,7 +988,6 @@ patMatchFinished( const DictIter* iter, XP_Bool log )
         XP_UCHAR word[32];
         formatCurWord( iter, word, VSIZE(word) );
 
-
         if ( result ) {
             XP_UCHAR elemBuf[64];
             PrintState prs = { .iter = iter, .buf = elemBuf, .bufLen = VSIZE(elemBuf), };
@@ -995,14 +1003,14 @@ patMatchFinished( const DictIter* iter, XP_Bool log )
 }
 
 static XP_Bool
-prevPeerMatch( DictIter* iter, array_edge** edgeP, PatMatch* matchP )
+prevPeerMatch( DictIter* iter, array_edge** edgeP, PatMatch* matchP, XP_Bool log )
 {
     const DictionaryCtxt* dict = iter->dict;
     array_edge* edge = *edgeP;
     XP_Bool found = XP_FALSE;
     for ( ; ; ) {
         PatMatch match = { 0 };
-        found = HAS_MATCH( iter, edge, &match, XP_FALSE );
+        found = HAS_MATCH( iter, edge, &match, log );
         if ( found ) {
             *edgeP = edge;
             *matchP = match;
@@ -1131,11 +1139,10 @@ isFirstEdge( const DictionaryCtxt* dict, array_edge* edge )
     return result;
 }
 
-static XP_Bool
-lastEdges( DictIter* iter )
+static void
+pushLastEdges( DictIter* iter, array_edge* edge, XP_Bool log )
 {
     const DictionaryCtxt* dict = iter->dict;
-    array_edge* edge = popEdge( iter );
 
     while ( iter->nEdges < iter->max ) {
         /* walk to the end ... */
@@ -1144,7 +1151,7 @@ lastEdges( DictIter* iter )
         }
         /* ... so we can then move back, testing */
         PatMatch match = {0};
-        if ( ! prevPeerMatch( iter, &edge, &match ) ) {
+        if ( ! prevPeerMatch( iter, &edge, &match, log ) ) {
             break;
         }
         pushEdge( iter, edge, &match );
@@ -1154,13 +1161,13 @@ lastEdges( DictIter* iter )
             break;
         }
     }
-    return ACCEPT_ITER( iter, XP_FALSE );
 }
 
 static XP_Bool
 prevWord( DictIter* iter, XP_Bool log )
 {
     const DictionaryCtxt* dict = iter->dict;
+
     XP_Bool success = XP_FALSE;
     while ( 0 < iter->nEdges && ! success ) {
         if ( isFirstEdge( dict, iter->stack[iter->nEdges-1].edge ) ) {
@@ -1173,20 +1180,14 @@ prevWord( DictIter* iter, XP_Bool log )
         array_edge* edge = popEdge(iter);
         XP_ASSERT( !isFirstEdge( dict, edge ) );
         edge -= dict->nodeSize;
+
         PatMatch match = {0};
-        if ( prevPeerMatch( iter, &edge, &match ) ) {
+        if ( prevPeerMatch( iter, &edge, &match, log ) ) {
             pushEdge( iter, edge, &match );
             if ( iter->nEdges < iter->max ) {
                 edge = dict_follow( dict, edge );
                 if ( NULL != edge ) {
-                    PatMatch match = {0};
-                    if ( HAS_MATCH( iter, edge, &match, log ) ) {
-                        pushEdge( iter, edge, &match );
-                        success = lastEdges( iter ) && iter->min <= iter->nEdges;
-                        if ( success ) {
-                            continue;
-                        }
-                    }
+                    pushLastEdges( iter, edge, log );
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -1757,11 +1758,21 @@ di_getNextWord( DictIter* iter )
 XP_Bool
 di_lastWord( DictIter* iter )
 {
-    ASSERT_INITED( iter );
-    iter->nEdges = 1;
-    iter->stack[0].edge = dict_getTopEdge( iter->dict );
+    const XP_Bool log = XP_FALSE;
 
-    XP_Bool success = lastEdges( iter ) || prevWord( iter, XP_FALSE );
+    ASSERT_INITED( iter );
+    while ( 0 < iter->nEdges ) {
+        popEdge( iter );
+    }
+
+    pushLastEdges( iter, dict_getTopEdge( iter->dict ), log );
+
+    XP_Bool success = ACCEPT_ITER( iter, log )
+        && iter->min <= iter->nEdges
+        && iter->nEdges <= iter->max;
+    if ( !success ) {
+        success = prevWord( iter, log );
+    }
     if ( success ) {
         iter->position = iter->nWords - 1;
     }
@@ -1848,8 +1859,8 @@ di_getNthWord( DictIter* iter, XWEnv xwe, DictPosition position, XP_U16 depth,
             }
             while ( repeats-- ) {
                 if ( !(*finder)( iter, XP_FALSE ) ) {
-                    break;
-                    XP_ASSERT(0); /* firing */
+                    XP_ASSERT(0);
+                    break;      /* prevents crash on release builds? */
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c b/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c
index f077c888e..121834eff 100644
--- a/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c
+++ b/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c
@@ -2014,7 +2014,7 @@ patsParamsToIter( const LaunchParams* params, const DictionaryCtxt* dict )
     }
 
     DictIter* iter = di_makeIter( dict, NULL_XWE, dimmp, strPats, nStrPats,
-                                  descs, nPatDescs );
+                                  0 == nPatDescs ? NULL : descs, nPatDescs );
     return iter;
 }