diff --git a/deploy/sync-static.sh b/deploy/sync-static.sh
index c43f397..25e82bf 100755
--- a/deploy/sync-static.sh
+++ b/deploy/sync-static.sh
@@ -1,35 +1,51 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Sync the built static site to the live root in an order that avoids deploy-race
-# blank screens. rsync isn't atomic, so a naïve `rsync --delete` can briefly serve
-# a NEW index.html that points at chunks not synced yet (→ failed load), or delete
-# old chunks an in-flight client still needs. Instead:
+# blank screens AND post-deploy slow loads. rsync isn't atomic, so a naïve
+# `rsync --delete` can briefly serve a NEW index.html that points at chunks not
+# synced yet (→ failed load), or delete old chunks an in-flight client still
+# needs. And even once synced, a new shell can point at chunks that aren't warm
+# at the CDN edge yet, so the unlucky first visitor fetches them cold from the
+# (residential) origin — the post-deploy slow-load window. So the order is:
 #   1. new hashed chunks first, and DON'T prune old ones (grace window)
-#   2. other static assets (version.json, env.js, icons…), pruning removed files
-#   3. the shell HTML — only once its chunks already exist
-#   4. the service worker last — a returning client adopts it only after the rest
+#   2. WARM those chunks at the edge BEFORE the shell goes live, so a new shell
+#      never references cold chunks
+#   3. other static assets (version.json, icons…), pruning removed files
+#   4. the shell HTML — only once its chunks exist AND are warm
+#   5. the service worker last — a returning client adopts it only after the rest
+#   6. warm the shell + key routes after publish
 # Old immutable chunks are pruned after a grace window to bound disk growth.
+# NOTE: warming runs from this host, so it primes the Cloudflare POP nearest the
+# origin (great for local/nearby users + our own post-deploy testing); a distant
+# POP still cold-fills once on its first hit — inherent to a residential origin.
 set -euo pipefail
 src="$1"; site="$2"
+base="https://upbeatbytes.com"
 
+# Warm a newline-separated list of paths (on stdin) through the public domain.
+# Best-effort: a warm miss must never fail the deploy.
+warm() { xargs -P 8 -I{} curl -fsS -o /dev/null --max-time 20 "$base{}" 2>/dev/null || true; }
+
+# 1. New hashed chunks first (old ones kept — 14-day grace for in-flight clients).
 rsync -a "$src/_app/immutable/" "$site/_app/immutable/"
+
+# 2. Warm the chunks BEFORE publishing the shell, so the new shell never points
+#    at chunks still cold at the edge (the post-deploy slow-load cause).
+echo "  warming new chunks (before publish)…"
+find "$site/_app/immutable" -type f \( -name '*.js' -o -name '*.css' \) -printf '/_app/immutable/%P\n' | warm
+
+# 3. Other static assets (prune removed files), then 4. the shell, then 5. the SW.
 rsync -a --delete \
   --exclude='_app/immutable/***' --exclude='index.html' --exclude='service-worker.js' \
   "$src/" "$site/"
 rsync -a "$src/index.html" "$site/index.html"
 rsync -a "$src/service-worker.js" "$site/service-worker.js"
-find "$site/_app/immutable" -type f -mtime +14 -delete 2>/dev/null || true
 
-# Warm the Cloudflare edge cache: fetch every immutable asset through the public
-# domain so the FIRST real visitor after a deploy gets cache HITs instead of slow
-# cold fetches from the (residential) origin — the post-deploy blank/slow-load cause.
-echo "  warming edge cache…"
-base="https://upbeatbytes.com"
-{
-  # every immutable chunk/asset (a superset of what index.html boots from)
-  find "$site/_app/immutable" -type f \( -name '*.js' -o -name '*.css' \) -printf '/_app/immutable/%P\n'
-  # shell + key routes + SW + version + static assets (primes CF↔origin even where
-  # no-cache; caches the cacheable ones)
-  printf '%s\n' / /play /account /admin /service-worker.js /_app/version.json \
-    /manifest.webmanifest /words-5.json /words-6.json /logo.svg /favicon.svg \
-    /icon-192.png /icon-512.png /fonts/inter-latin-wght-normal.woff2
-} | xargs -P 8 -I{} curl -fsS -o /dev/null --max-time 20 "$base{}" 2>/dev/null || true
+# 6. Warm the shell + key routes + remaining static now that they're published
+#    (primes CF↔origin even where no-cache; caches the cacheable shell/routes).
+echo "  warming shell + routes (after publish)…"
+printf '%s\n' / /play /account /admin /service-worker.js /_app/version.json \
+  /manifest.webmanifest /words-5.json /words-6.json /logo.svg /favicon.svg \
+  /icon-192.png /icon-512.png /fonts/inter-latin-wght-normal.woff2 | warm
+
+# Bound disk growth: prune immutable chunks older than the grace window.
+find "$site/_app/immutable" -type f -mtime +14 -delete 2>/dev/null || true